A Complete History of BurnleyA proud founding member of the Football League, Burnley Football Club actually began life as a rugby club. And then they sold us Danny Ings and we broke him.
Burnley's Most Famous ExportAllan Mark "Boff" Whalley (born 1 January 1961) is an English musician and writer, who is perhaps best known for being the former lead guitarist for the anarcho-punk and folk band Chumbawamba.
Head 2 HeadBurnley's two previous forays into the top tier had proved to be extremely unsuccessful when pitted against Liverpool but all of that changed this season.
The Reverse Fixture - LFC's Achilles Heel In MicrocosmThe difference in fortunes against the top and bottom sides of the Premier League has probably never been so well exhibited than by the juxtaposition of performances and results of the first two games of the season.
As a result of the new stand not being quite match fit, in only the second fixture of the season and off the back of a crazy win against Arsenal, Liverpool headed to Turf Moor to take on Burnley. The mood was extremely confident prior to the game but all of that came undone in the 2nd minute when Burnley scored their first after some calamitous defending at the back. Despite some hugely intimidating possession numbers Liverpool struggled to get back into the game, lacking any penetration up front and never looked like scoring. Burnley were able to bide their time, pinching another goal largely against the run of play and killing the tie as a genuine competition, all inside 40 minutes.
First-half goals from Sam Vokes and Andre Gray gave Burnley a surprise win over Liverpool, who could not recover after some disastrous defending. Nathaniel Clyne gave the ball away for the Clarets' first goal, with Gray finding Vokes to blast home.
Steven Defour, on his Burnley debut, was allowed to charge forward and set up Gray to roll home the second. Liverpool had 81% of possession and 26 shots - but only tested Clarets keeper Tom Heaton with efforts from distance.
This lack of competitive edge against a perceived lesser side, an inability to raise their game when the opposition doesn't get paid more than them is Liverpool's soft underbelly and one which had been exposed multiple times this season. I'm not sure what's more worrying; that a par performance of this side isn't enough to defeat Burnley or that Liverpool aren't able to raise their game above average when the occasion isn't covered in glitter.
A One, Two, Three, Four, Five Man TeamWhilst the lack of depth in the side it a moot point, time and again certain player absences have been pointed too as the absolute reason for our dip in form. Although Mane's numbers do support this, statistics also tell us Can is a more effective player than Coutinho this season, something even a Liverpool Red Barber couldn't even get behind. In a period when Coutinho and Matip were out with injury, whilst not massively pretty, we managed 4 out of 7 wins.
I'd argue that what happened immediately following those injuries is the key to our recent drop in form. It was not an isolated cause but rather the culmination of three factors.
1. A squad tired from covering key injured personnel, adapting to changing personnel.
2. The reintroduction of those key injured personnel too early, both to try and arrest a dip in form and to prepare for Mane's departure to the ACON.
3. Mane's departure to the ACON.
It then took time to get key players back up to speed and for the team to re-adjust to the changes. It's my supposition that the Arsenal result was an direct indication that the influence of these factors is now greatly diminished and going forward (barring any further injuries to first 11-14) we'll see an immediate return to the pre 2017 form. Some will point to the Leicester game and say that just two games ago we were undone by lesser opposition, our old foe, but that wasn't the case, we were actually beaten by the current champions, how long they continue to look like that remains to be seen.
*The small sample size mean these numbers are not statistically valid nor do they account for the quality of the opposition.
League Position Through the SeasonInjuriesBoth Henderson and Sturridge will be unavailable for selection, along with long term absentee Ings. On the comeback trail, Grujic took part in the under 21's win against Reading on Monday, lasting around an hour so could have an outside chance of making the bench.
RefereesReferee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: S Ledger, S Long
Fourth official: N Swarbrick
BroadcastingSky Sports 1 from 4pm
Formation Questions1. Origi up front?
2. Moreno at left back?
3. TAA at right and Clyne at left back?
4. Milner in midfield?
5. Score predictions?
6. Lovren straight back in or does Klavan continue after a good showing?
Predicted Starting Eleven