Football News: Burnley v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

Burnley v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective

A terrible watch, not helped by the way Liverpool play it slowly around trying to tempt the opposition out for long periods, particularly early in the match. Burnley had no intention of coming out to play, they were always going to just sit there and hang on for dear life, so it was just wasted time. When a team is sat in, the ball needs to move much more quickly to move them around and create gaps. It only takes one man to be a bit slow reacting, maybe he is looking the other way to check on the man he is marking or is distracted for a moment by a runner, to leave a gap that can be exploited. When you are just moving it around slowly, they have plenty of time to shuffle over. The other thing that would be good is to have full-backs flying down the wing and hitting the byline at pace before crossing the ball in, but instead they constantly underlap the widemen and just clog up the space in the centre.

It means the full-backs are just running into the packed defence, rather than potentially pulling someone out of position trying to track them, which allows the wide defenders to concentrate on Salah and Gakpo. When Robertson came on and did make some runs out wide, it created the opportunities for Gakpo to really attack and beat Walker to get a ball in. Unfortunately, until Chiesa came on, there was no one in the centre to even try to get on the ball. Wirtz and Ekitike both want to drop off and get the ball to feet, rather than looking to get in on the end of crosses. Mac Allister's injury meant he was unable to be the one that broke into the box, something he has proven to be good at, and Szoboszlai and Gravenberch are both similar to Wirtz and Ekitike and want to receive the ball on the edge of the box, rather than charging in to get to a cross.

That is why it ended up being a grind, rather than picking up an early goal and forcing Burnley to ditch their game plan. With the slow ball movement and lack of players attacking the ball when it did come in, there were very few real chances created. I am sure Slot will be looking carefully at it and I would hope that he will give more freedom to the full-backs to attack, but most of all to get them to overlap, rather than underlap all the time. Underlapping is more useful when the defence comes out to engage, leaving gaps. When there is no gap, there is no point in them running into traffic. At the end of the day though, what matters most is the points. It is three more points and how it was achieved is really not as important at the end of the season, just that those points are on the board.

Burnley

Burnley had a plan, but no ambition of even snatching a win despite being at home and so got what they deserved - nothing. It is not like this is something unusual, they played this dross football week in, week out in the Championship last season, so I have no sympathy for them when it fails them. Their whole tactical plan was to sit in with everyone behind the ball and defend their own penalty box - it says a lot that their supposed main striker spent what felt like most of his game in his own penalty box in open play. They did work hard and gave their all, but it made little sense to just keep dropping deeper and not have at least one player up to give them an out ball. It turned the game into a boring attack against defence training session, rather than a true football match.

Liverpool

Alisson - a very easy day out for Alisson.

Szoboszlai - he needed to be getting down the flank in this match, rather than inverting, to try and drag the Burnley defence wider and stretch the play. This would have been an ideal game for Frimpong's style of play really. Once he shifted into the centre after half-time, he was much better, but I would have liked to see him try a few more shots on the edge of the box to force the Burnley defence to push out to him and close him off. It might just have created a gap in behind.

Konate - with Burnley providing little attacking threat, he spent most of the game deep inside their half. The problem was that he is the one getting furthest forward, getting on the ball in areas he could do damage, rather than van Dijk. It is the wrong way round, as Virgil is much better on the ball and needs to be the one pushing up. Unfortunately, Konate cannot be trusted to defend one-on-one, so it has to be him that pushes further on. Otherwise, you just know he would end up not reading the run because he is sleepwalking through the game, as usual, and getting a red card due to pulling someone down who had just run straight past him without him noticing.

van Dijk - very rarely had any kind of threat to deal with, but what he did have to do, he did in his usual calm unflappable way. I would like to see him drive forward more from defence in these games. Maybe hit a shot or two from range as well, he has an excellent long range shot on him.

Kerkez - he is playing with so little confidence at the moment, not helped by his shockingly bad dive. He just needs to relax a bit. I would like to see him let off the leash in games like this, to just be given the freedom to attack down the flank at will. I also think a few games of playing without having to worry about the instructions he has been given would help him lift his confidence and help him perform better when he does have to play in a more limited way. What was badly missing against Burnley was having the two full-backs bombing down the wing, overlapping their wideman, to allow the wingers to attack the box.

Mac Allister - bit difficult to judge his performance, as he got crunched on his ankle and came off at half time. It might be that he is still off the pace, or it could be just that he was struggling with his ankle.

Gravenberch - the man of the match for me. He was able to get further up the pitch without worrying about Burnley breaking, as they were refusing to commit bodies forward even on a break. In matches like this, maybe there is a case to be made for him to be looking to break into the box for crosses, as his height should enable him to cause problems, even if he does not get on the end of balls played in.

Wirtz - improving with every game, he is starting to have a genuine influence now. Not the easiest game either for the more creative players, like him, as there was simply no space between Burnley's packed ranks to pick a pass or run through.

Salah - not his best game, but I am not sure what people expected him to do. He is always watched by at least 2 players, usually with a third covering, he got very little chance to run inside, particularly after Bradley was brought on, as Bradley constantly cut inside him and just congested the space. That left Salah with chalk on his boots, which is not where you want him and is not helpful for the team. He needed an overlapping full-back or midfielder, drawing away a defender so he could actually get some freedom and move more central, where he can threaten. What you do know is that, when the chips are down and you need someone to step up and win the game for you with a late penalty, Salah is the man to do so.

Gakpo - needed to see more of the ball in dangerous areas. When he did, he was mostly able to get past Walker and cause real problems for the Burnley defence. Then the issue was a lack of numbers for him to pick out in the box, which was packed with defenders. He was very lucky to escape a yellow card for a dive that was almost as embarrassing as Kerkez's.

Ekitike - a decent game, a few good moments, but he just did not get enough service to really impose himself on the game and often ended up drifting deep or wide looking to get involved. What I did not like was that he did not get himself into the 6 yard box enough when the ball was wide. There was no one getting in there looking to get on the end of crosses to cause a bit of danger for the Burnley defence.

Robertson - replaced Kerkez in the 38th minute. Where Kerkez was nervous and looked to be trying far too hard to make an impression, Robertson just slotted right in and played well. Admittedly, he was never under any pressure defensively but he got forward well and caused a few problems in the opposition half.

Bradley - was brought on in the stead of Mac Allister at half-time. He provided energy and direct running, worked hard defensively and did well in that aspect, but was poor going forward. He gave the ball away cheaply a couple of times, plus his runs were always inside Salah, which did nothing to create any space. Salah was being doublemarked all game, he needed someone overlapping him to create some space, but never got that until Frimpong came on. Bradley needs to vary his runs, instead of always just looking to get into the box.

Chiesa - replaced Ekitike in the 72nd minute. Showed energy and desire, plus the lift his song provides among the fans, but really should have scored with unchallenged header. At least he did get into the box and look to get on the end of things, which made a huge difference.

Frimpong - took the place of Konate in the 87th minute. His arrival, along with Ngumoha's, really improved Liverpool, simply by allowing Salah to shift more centrally, that opened up all the space on the wings for him and Ngumoha to utilise. Just having him running wide and looking to attack down the flank caused so many issues as their defence on the left side were all focused on Salah.

Ngumoha - came on for Wirtz in the 87th minute. Showed some pace and trickery, just needed to see more of the ball.

Written by Tris Burke September 18 2025 09:16:40