Burnley 0-2 Liverpool: Reds cruise to victory at Turf Moor to leapfrog Leicester into fourth place
So the task ahead of Liverpool is simple. Beat Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday and, barring something unexpected happening in Leicester, they can put this strange season behind them and move on.
This victory over a Burnley side that gave it a good go from the first minute took Jurgen Klopp’s team ahead of Leicester and in to the top four.
They are only there on goal difference but they are four ahead of Brendan Rodgers’ team on that which means that Tottenham would have to get a right walloping at the King Power this weekend for the FA Cup winners to have a chance of reeling Liverpool in.
Liverpool confidently dispatched Burnley at Turf Moor as they cruised to a 3-0 win in a huge boost to their top four hopes
The Merseysiders now hold their Champions League hopes in their own hands ahead of the final game against Crystal Palace
Goalkeeper Alisson – last week’s goalscoring hero against West Brom – lifts his arms aloft following the crucial victory
Liverpool have leapfrogged Leicester into fourth – level on points with the Foxes, who play Tottenham in their final game
So, yes, Liverpool are almost there. It has not been the title defence anyone expected but a place in the Champions League next season would mean it will no longer be classed as a disaster, merely very disappointing.
Here at Turf Moor Liverpool were more than good enough and won the game with goals either side of half time from Roberto Firmino and defender Nat Phillips and a late contribution from substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
It has, though, been Liverpool’s form over the last two months that has taken them back to the brink of respectability.
Since losing at home to Fulham on March 7, Klopp’s team have taken 23 points from 27, winning seven and drawing two. That has been a gutsy effort after a winter of seemingly unrelenting misery. It has, belatedly, been the form of champions and it may sustain them in to next season.
Here they played like a team that knew what was at stake and for long periods they had to. Burnley are not always at their best against the very top sides. They can seemingly lack a little belief. But on this occasion they were energetic and ambitious. With a little more quality in the final third of the field they could have seriously troubled Liverpool but they have only scored 33 goals all season in the league and that perhaps tells its own story.
Roberto Firmino lifted the pressure off the Reds as he thumped home the opener following a host of missed opportunities
The Brazilian lets out a smile as he puts his team on course for victory after his close range effort found its way into the corner
Liverpool knew they needed goals of their own, of course, and with that in mind they would not have been disappointed to see an untried goalkeeper in the Burnley team.
With Nick Pope injured and Bailey Peacock-Farrell beaten four times here by Leeds at the weekend, Sean Dyche selected his number three Will Norris, a player whose only previous Premier League experience amounted to one minute as a substitute for Wolves back in May 2019.
Norris doubtless expected to be busy and he was. But in an entertaining first half Liverpool’s Alisson was equally occupied.
Liverpool did have two chances in the opening three minutes as Mo Salah was tackled expertly by Ben Mee as he shaped to shoot and then Sadio Mane missed what amounted to an open goal after a shot by Trent Alexander-Arnold was deflected to him on the six-yard line.
It was dreamland for Nathaniel Phillips as he nodded into the corner to make it two and score his first ever goal for Liverpool
The delight on the centre-back’s face was clear to see as he was embraced by team-mates Firmino and Mohamed Salah
But Burnley were lively, too. A Matt Lowton shot struck Rhys Williams on the head while Chris Wood should have done better than slash a clearer chance in to the side netting when a long pass found the space between Williams and Alisson down the right.
Liverpool looked occasionally vulnerable. But their attacks carried menace and Firmino and the generally impressive Thiago should have scored after neat passing moves.
If anything, Liverpool looked just a little anxious at times and maybe that was not surprising. There was a lot at stake.
Salah was next to err, whacking the ball over when he appeared to have got away from Mee, and then, at the other end, Alisson dived to his right to palm away a rising shot from Dwight McNeil.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – having only just come on from the bench – added gloss to the scoreline as he lashed in the third
Burnley had chances throughout and striker Chris Wood (centre) was a constant menace to the Liverpool back line
It wasn’t Mohamed Salah’s day in front of goal as he fluffed a handful of good opportunities to get on the scoresheet
It was a fair and open contest at this stage but then, just before half-time, Liverpool struck. It was a nice goal, Andy Robertson crossing low for Firmino to score, but Dyche will have been furious at the way his team – Jack Cork in particular – failed to track the Liverpool runners.
That felt like a decisive moment but Liverpool needed more goals to make Leicester’s task onerous on Sunday. A single goal victory would have left Klopp’s team vulnerable.
Phillips scored the second – rising above Mee to head in a Mane cross in the 52nd minute – and was then equally useful at the other end, nodding a James Tarkowski effort off the line at a time when Burnley were threatening a late cavalry charge.
Two would have done for Liverpool but there was another at the death, Oxlade-Chamberlain twisting and turning to score at the near post.
Burnley beat Liverpool at Anfield back in January, of course, and for a while Klopp’s team could just not win at home.
On Sunday they simply need to. To fail now would be extraordinary even by the standards of this odd season.
He was nearly in on goal in the opening minute before Burnley defender Ben Mee put in a heroic block to stop him in his tracks
Sadio Mane also missed a good early chance – skewing an effort off target from close range as Burnley put him under pressure
Liverpool’s Fabinho in action in the first half as Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill looks to unsettle him on the ball
Dwight McNeil wades through a horde of Liverpool players with Thiago (R) and Trent Alexander-Arnold look to thwart him
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