The end of the match brought Burnley’s Ashley Barnes scoring the decisive goal. With this win, Burnley rose to 16th place and Liverpool remains in 4th. All the fans that bet online probably had chosen Liverpool as the likely winner, as they had not lost a game in their home stadium for a long time.
Liverpool was perfectly controlling the match, but Burnley proved themselves as worthy opponents. They kept their defense tight and survives some setbacks out of sheer luck. After surviving the second half against Liverpool, Burnley struck the decisive goal in the 83rd minute of the match. Liverpool had 27 shots without scoring against its opponents. This is the most shots they have had in a single league game, without scoring since 2013, when they were up against Reading and had 28 chances; and most they have had at Anfield since 2012 when they played against West Brom with 30 shots. Since the beginning of last season, Burnley's Nick Pope is the goalkeeper with the most saves against a single opponent in the Premier League. He has 14 saves in his previous two games at Anfield and plus six he made in this game.
Burnley’s victory came as a surprise to everyone, as Liverpool’s incredible long record of no losses at their own home was broken. Their record of 68 consecutive league victories has now come to an end to the shock of many fans. The last time Liverpool had lost at Anfield, was on the 23rd April 2017. It was when Crystal Palace gained a full three league points.
The loss of a long loss-free home-game record may be a big hit for Liverpool, but it is the least of their worries. The biggest, and at the same time most worrying concerns are related to the strategy problems Jürgen Klopp is facing. He needs to change them as soon as possible and get his team back on track!
No ideas, no places, no goals. Liverpool has lost its touch and there are no ideas on how they are going to up their offensive game. The team is constantly cultivating their concentration, even though the main game is not the strength of the attacking trio players; Mané, Firmino, Salah. This reflects well how painful it is to play in the team at the moment; both for the players but also for the fans watching. The huge problems with their attack are also reflected in the statistics. Liverpool has played in the Premier League for 438 minutes without a goal. They have been up against teams like West Bromwich, Newcastle, and Burnley, among others. During these matches and minutes, Liverpool has created 88 goals but shot just 15 times per goal. Only one in six goal-scoring attempts has even given Liverpool a chance to score - that’s very little of it. There is a lot to improve in shot accuracy. Overnight, however, such big problems will not be solved, so already at this point I dare say that Liverpool is not renewing the Premier League championship.
This was the second Premier League victory for Burnley against a champion. The first one was in August of 2017, against Chelsea. Since the 2017-2018 season, they are the only team with two away league victories against reigning champions. For Liverpool, it is now four league games without any scores, since 2000. They have not had such bad luck for over 20 years. It is also a first for Jürgen Klopp; for a team under him to go four league games without scoring. The last time this happened was in Bundesliga 2006.
According to Sky Sports, the Liverpool head coach had said that this game should have been impossible to lose, but yet they lost. The coach apologizes and says that the loss is his fault since it is his responsibility to make sure the team has the right feeling and enough self-confidence. He says how the team got a lot of chances to shoot a goal but failed to do so at crucial moments. Then he proceeds to laugh and says that he said the same things last week.
Sure, the top is only six points away, but the Manchester teams, City and United, are currently in a much more convincing mood than Liverpool and manage to dig up full league points from their matches, even in a bad game.
Liverpool is in a really bad crisis at the moment, and I am not entirely convinced that Klopp will get the situation resolved. The direction of the team is going badly downwards, and the current Liverpool has nothing to do with next season’s European games. But, if Klopp gets the team awakened, Liverpool will fight for a place in the Champions League.