Liverpool 3-1 Burnley: Reds battle past stubborn Clarets to reclaim top spot
Liverpool reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Anfield on Saturday, but they were tested by a brave visiting side.
Liverpool have 54 points, two ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand. Burnley remained second-bottom with 13 points.
Dioga Jota, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez scored to beat Burnley, who had tied the game at halftime thanks to Dara O'Shea's goal.
Manchester City's 2-0 victory over Everton had put Pep Guardiola's side one point ahead in the table, and a packed Anfield expected a fast start from the home team.
Instead, with a stadium record attendance of 59,896, Burnley posed the greatest early threat as Liverpool struggled to establish a foothold.
"I can really imagine how Vincent Kompany is feeling right now because they did a lot of good stuff and made it really uncomfortable for us," Juergen Klopp told Sky Sports.
Klopp had to make do without goalkeeper Alisson and defender Joe Gomez, who were both out with flu, as well as Ibrahima Konate, who was suspended.
Andy Robertson made his first start since October, and Wataru Endo returned to the team after Asian Cup duty with Japan, while Caoimhin Kelleher filled in between the posts.
Kelleher was called into action early on, blocking an effort from Zeki Amdouni as Burnley created the early threat.
Liverpool started to get into the game, but they had little to show for their efforts until Burnley keeper James Trafford made a mistake at a corner.
Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped in a corner, and Trafford came out to claim it but got nowhere near the ball, leaving Jota with an easy header to give Liverpool the lead in the 31st minute.
Burnley never gave up, and in the 45th minute, O'Shea scored his first Premier League goal with a powerful header from a corner that beat Kelleher and found the top corner.
Liverpool came out with new energy and reclaimed the lead within seven minutes.
Harvey Elliot, a halftime substitute, played a ball across goal that deflected before Diaz dived in with a close range header.
"We knew at halftime what we had to do. We were in control but of course we had to change Trent Alexander-Arnold and are short on defenders," Klopp said.
"Curtis Jones did incredibly well, like Harvey Elliott did when he came on."
Burnley had chances to level again, but Kelleher saved well from David Fofana in a one-on-one situation, and Wilson Odobert blasted the rebound wide.
Fofana was through again, but with only the goalkeeper to beat, he curled his shot just wide of the post.
"Burnley gave problems and we had to score at the right moments. We needed Kelleher as it was a really good game for him," Klopp told BBC.
With 11 minutes to go, Liverpool secured all three points. Another corner fell to Jota, but after his shot was blocked, he passed to Elliot, who floated the ball to Nunez, who leaned back and headed into the bottom corner.
Burnley had no chance to recover, and Liverpool could have had another in extra time, but Trafford saved a close-range effort from Nunez, who should have done better.
SportsLigue