Soccer

    Burnley vs Liverpool news: Reds can keep pressure on leaders Man City

    Dave TindallDave Tindall12 February 2022
    Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane

    Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane

    It’s bottom versus second top at Turf Moor on Sunday and Jurgen Klopp’s men can show their class by picking up another three points.

    Liverpool won't let Manchester City simply run away with the title, and victory over Leicester on Thursday night pulled the Merseysiders to within nine points of the leaders - with a game in hand.

    With a showdown against City at the Etihad still to come, Liverpool have hope even if many have already handed the title to Pep Guardiola's side

    Burnley, meanwhile, prop up the table but are at least showing some fight after holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

    When: Sunday, February 13, 14:00 GMT

    Where: Turf Moor

    How to watch: BT Sport

    Follow this game via our score centre

    Who is the ref for Burnley v Liverpool

    Martin Atkinson is the man in the middle of the all-Lancastrian clash at Turf Moor.

    The Yorkshire official has taken charge of Burnley twice this season, showing just three yellow cards across those two games.

    He was busier in his only Liverpool match, the Reds' 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final win at Arsenal. Atkinson showed six yellows and a red to Thomas Partey.

    Season stats 2021/22: Premier League (14), yellows (32), red (2), penalties (6)

    Recent form

    Despite having to absorb the loss of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, Liverpool have been perfect since mid-January, winning five games out of five in all competitions.

    In the Premier League, they made it three wins on the spin by scoring a deserved 2-0 success over Leicester on Thursday night.

    The Reds continue to be the top-flight's leading scorers and away from home they have blasted 33 goals in just 12 matches. That's 10 more road goals than any other Premier League rival.

    With Mane and Salah back from the Africa Cup of Nations, Klopp has all his main weapons available again.
    Burnley are bottom of the table with just 14 points from their 20 games. However they do have at least two games in hand on the three sides above them.
    Despite the paltry points count, they have at least managed to draw their last three games so are showing some resilience.
    They started that run with a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, played out a goalless draw with Watford at Turf Moor and then fought back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United on Tuesday night.

    Liverpool players in form

    Diogo Jota continues to go from strength to strength in a Liverpool shirt and took his Premier League tally to 12 with two sharply-taken goals against Leicester on Thursday.
    That puts him second only to Salah in the Premier League top scorer charts.

    Brazilian midfielder Fabinho has impressed in recent displays and full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have 25 assists between them this term.

    For Burnley, they continue to find goals hard to come by but, at the other end, Sean Dyche's men have conceded just once in three games.

    Central to that are goalkeeper Nick Pope and centre-back James Tarkowski, who have been getting strong reviews in that run.

    Last three Premier League meetings

    Liverpool 2-0 Burnley (August 21, 2021)

    Liverpool's first home game of the season ended with a routine win as goals from Jota and Mane in each half saw off the visitors.
    Jota opened the scoring in the 18th minute as he headed home a left-wing cross from Kostas Tsimikas.
    Alexander-Arnold's clever pass set up Mane to run in and seal the points with his 50th goal in Liverpool colours.

    Burnley 0-3 Liverpool (Premier League - May 19, 2021)

    The Reds were on a late-season charge to grab a Champions League spot when they turned up at Turf Moor last season and got the job done via a 3-0 win.

    They wasted plenty of early chances before Roberto Firmino slotted home two minutes before half-time.

    Stand-in centre-back Nat Phillips cemented his cult hero status by nodding home a second in the 52nd minute and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put some extra gloss on the scoreline with a fine third after showing quick feet in the box.

    Liverpool 0-1 Burnley (Premier League, - January 21, 2021)

    An historic win for Burnley. Not only did they record their first win at Anfield since 1974 but they ended Liverpool's astonishing 68-unbeaten home run which had lasted nearly four years.
    Remarkably, the loss sparked a run of six straight home defeats as the Reds' Anfield form completely fell apart.
    The man to inflict the killer blow was Ashley Barnes who was tripped in the box by Alisson before slotting home the resulting penalty seven minutes from time.

    Past ten matches

    Burnley wins: 1

    Draws: 2

    Liverpool wins: 7

    Burnley scored: 8

    Liverpool scored: 21

    Manager's thoughts

    Jurgen Klopp on Mane's return after winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal: "Sadio will be available. He will come now this morning for training and will be in full training.

    "We make a decision after that. Emotionally he will still be high flying but we have to see how he is."
    On Jordan Henderson being fit again: "Hendo, yes, definitely will be back."

    Sean Dyche on trying to beat Liverpool: "All games are winnable. That has to be the mentality. Ours is firm and it's got to be on Sunday against another top outfit.

    "But we look at ourselves and what we're looking to build."

    Predicted Burnley v Liverpool teams

    Salah got minutes against Leicester and now Mane is in contention too following their return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
    It leaves Klopp rather spoiled for choice although his team selection may also be influenced by Wednesday's Champions League clash away to Inter.
    Skipper Henderson is fit again after missing the Leicester game with a minor back problem.

    Possible Liverpool starting line-up: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Diaz, Jota, Salah.

    Burnley forward Maxwell Cornet should be fit again after being taken off against Manchester United with cramp.
    Left-back Charlie Taylor, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Matej Vydra are all set to miss out.
    Jonny Evans, Jamie Vardy, Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne and Ryan Bertrand are all out injured.

    Possible Burnley line-up: Pope, Tarkowski, Mee, Roberts, Pieters, Brownhill, McNeil, Westwood, Weghorst, Rodriguez, Cornet.

    Burnley v Liverpool prediction

    Liverpool are in a fine run of form again and have all their players available.
    Despite being bottom, Burnley are no pushovers and won't give the Reds an easy ride although it's hard to see anything other than an away win.

    Klopp's men have scored three goals in each of their last three starts at Turf Moor but we'll go for a 2-0 win this time.

    READ MORE: Klopp praises Luis Diaz debut against Leicester but dampens expectations