February 10, (THEWILL) – Liverpool responded to Manchester City briefly moving top of the English Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday. However, the win tested Liverpool’s squad depth and resolve even more than their resources.
City had overtaken Liverpool to reach the summit for the first time since November after beating Everton. However, Liverpool’s win re-established their two-point lead, although the performance was less convincing than hoped against the division’s next-bottom side.
With goalkeeper Alisson Becker and defender Joe Gomez missing due to illness, Liverpool initially seemed to be suffering a hangover from last weekend’s loss at Arsenal. It took the reliable right boot of Trent Alexander-Arnold, setting a new defender record of 58 EPL assists, and Diogo Jota’s head to spark them into life.
Even then, sloppily conceding an equaliser to Dara O’Shea on the stroke of half-time posed problems, as did Alexander-Arnold’s withdrawal at the break after recently returning from injury. However, his replacement, Harvey Elliott, created goals for Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez to ease the pressure.
On-loan Chelsea youngster David Fofana could have made it much more nervy had he taken his chances. With Mohamed Salah and Dominic Szoboszlai soon returning from injury, Liverpool urgently needed to regain momentum after the Arsenal defeat. This win did that, although it highlighted their need to sharpen up defensively and clinically before the title run-in intensifies.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
