Groundhog day!
Liverpool dominated possession against Burnley, had tonnes of shots but drew 1-1.
The Reds fell behind thanks to a Scott Arfield strike which came after some more questionable defending.
They got back into the game two minutes later when Mohamed Salah made a trademark diagonal run to get on the end of a long pass from Emre Can. He took the ball down well and finished superbly.
In the second half, Liverpool were frustrated by some questionable refereeing, some poor play and some excellent Burnley defending and as much as they tried, they couldn’t get a winning goal.
In fact, the visitors almost took all three points when Ben Mee saw a header cleared off the line by Joel Matip and another saved by Simon Mignolet.
Here are my player ratings from the game:
Simon Mignolet – 7
I thought Mignolet did well. He was confident when the ball was in the air and made a decent save to deny Mee late on.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5
It’s great to see a young Scouser in the team but him being a local youngster doesn’t make him immune from criticism. Burnley targeted him in the air and he was outmuscled by Robbie Brady in the build up to the Burnley goal. In an attacking sense, his final ball was often lacking although he did have a volley well saved late on.
Joel Matip – 6
Matip often looks so good but he has moments that just aren’t good enough. He defended well at times and he used the ball well but he was weak in the build up to the goal and that’s enough to ensure Liverpool didn’t win the game. Fine margins.
Ragnar Klavan – 5
Again, like Matip he looked pretty good throughout but he wasn’t good enough in terms of Burnley’s goal.
Andy Robertson – 6
Was mainly used as a decoy in the first half as his overlapping runs were often ignored by teammates. He put in a few decent crosses in the second half and looked to be as positive as possible.
Emre Can – 5
Can might have done better in the build-up to the goal too as he didn’t really track Arnfield’s run. On the ball, he was a bit wasteful and he really did my head in late on when he held play up to argue with Jack Cork as Liverpool were looking to find a late winner.
James Milner – 6
A typical Milner performance, really. He was solid but not spectacular. Nearly finished off a wonderful move but his volley was well blocked.
Philippe Coutinho – 5
Some good touches and moments when he walked past defenders for fun but his final decision was often poor. His shooting was atrocious and he often took shots on when he had better options available.
Mohamed Salah – 7
Took his goal so well and he probably should have been awarded a penalty late on but Roger East didn’t deem Mee’s challenge as a foul. Salah worked tirelessly throughout and was the best player in red.
Roberto Firmino – 5
Started on the left and didn’t really get into the game. Had some decent moments when linking up with Coutinho but wasn’t really effective.
Daniel Sturridge – 6
Had a few half chances and looked sharp considering he’s not played too often.
