Liverpool's Left-Side Bias, Set-Piece Focus and Attacking Friction in Turf Moor Win
The Premier League leaders controlled Burnley with a high volume, low efficiency approach, exposing creative imbalance despite defensive dominance.
Midfield Pressure, Not Precision, Wins the Day
A deserved, hard-fought 2pm win at Turf Moor kept Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, although the performance did little to calm nerves. The Reds produced 27 shots, but only four of them found the target, an odd mix of dominance and dysfunction.
The Sunday kick-off was less than ideal. It clashed directly with the World Series Darts Finals in Amsterdam, which meant two screens on the go at once. One showing Liverpool in their gloriously green Adidas kits, the other streaming Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen tearing up the oche. Between corners and checkout finishes, it was chaos of the best kind.
Despite the frantic nature on screen, Liverpool were methodical. While the final result looked narrow, the underlying data suggests this was a match they controlled, even if the scoreline and body language told a more jittery story.
“Even though they struggled to break down Burnley and create big chances from open play, the team put Burnley under such pressure that something was bound to bounce their way.”
Volume Over Quality in the Final Third
Liverpool racked up an expected goals (xG) total of 2.65, with 0.76 of that coming from Salah’s penalty. Strip that away and you're left with an average non-penalty shot quality of just 7.2%, which says everything about the scattergun nature of the Reds’ shooting.
Twenty-seven shots is a healthy number on paper. But if you can’t hit the corners or force the keeper into action, it amounts to noise, not danger.
“They weren’t able to create chances from open play with no defenders blocking the sight of the shooters.”
Salah, the match-winner once again, reverted to his familiar run-up for the penalty, ditching the altered versions that cost him against Athletic Bilbao and Crystal Palace in pre-season. It's a small sample size, but his shooting numbers have dropped. However, his creativity remains a key part of this Liverpool side. His dribbling, on the other hand, is showing signs of decline.