Liverpool moves to Premier League's top four for first time since February

Liverpool vs Burnley, EPL: Presenting the live commentary, highlights and updates from the match between Liverpool and Burnley at Turf Moor.

Updated : May 20, 2021 02:43 IST , Burnley

HIGHLIGHTS

FULL-TIME: For the first time since February, Liverpool moves into the Premier League top four! This is, however, Burnley's 10th back-to-back defeat at its den.

92' Taylor has put in lengthy, bolstering runs tonight and he has denied Salah the chance to move atop the Golden Boot leaderboard once again.

91' A late change for Klopp's men. Tsimikas replaces Mane.

90' We will have three minutes of added time, ladies and gents!

88' Oxlade-Chamberlain slots home his first goal of the 2020-21 season! A Robertson assist following a corner has all but sealed the deal for the visitor.

85' Williams receives treatment for a mid-air clash with Vydra. He saunters off the field but is now back on. Milner on for Wijnaldum as the physio attends to Brownhill now.

82' A jolly good first touch from Taylor, who outfoxes Alexander-Arnold on a quick dash from the left. He has, however, overcooked the cross. Wood ghosts in but isn't happy with how the gameplay just transpired.

80' Liverpool's first change. Chamberlain replaces Firmino.

78' Taylor holds off Salah on the left flank but ends up mispassing to Alexander-Arnold, who just manages to clear it. Burnley is putting up quite the show for its fans, who have been allowed here for the first time in this season.

75' Alisson intervenes! A disappointing cross by Gudmundsson at the end of a decent buildup by the host. In the meantime, the first roll of the dice from Dyche sees Vydra come on for Cork.

72' Five of Mee's six goals have been headers. He gets to the end of an inviting cross again but just wasn't able to direct it home . Dyche needs to haul in some changes.

68' Goal-scorer at one end. Goal-denier at the other. Phillips heads a ball out from right on the line. The referee looks at his watch but the scoreline is unharmed.

65' Salah breaks into a run before Taylor throws him off balance in the box. Not a penalty.

63' A touch too many from Brownhill as he continues to build on to his unwanted tally of having the most touches by a player in this season of the Premier League without scoring a goal. The final shot again lacked the viciousness to test Alisson.

60' Liverpool looks quite eager to put the game to bed. Can it get on the scoresheet again?

58' Big props to Burnley, which irrespective of the match situation, somehow manages to make its opposition's life very difficult. Brownhill and McNeil make their way into the box but the visitor's defence ensures there's no damage.

52' Phillips nods in the first goal of his senior career off Mane's cross! That would do his confidence a world of good.

50' Salah's drive at the near post settles into the side-netting.

48' Burnley is not allowing heads to drop. Gudmundsson goes down in the area as he ends up standing atop the ball. Sloppy. The crowd, however, appeals for a penalty. Chris Kavanagh isn't interested.

45' Only once in this season has Burnley recovered after trailing in the first-half. In January against Aston Villa. Can the side do it again and spoil LFC's party? Well, it has started off well, for starters. Wood makes early inroads but the shot didn't carry enough power to trouble Alisson.

HALF-TIME: Klopp rushes into the tunnel as soon as the referee marks the end of the first half. Not a moment to be wasted.

45' A minute has been added on.

43' FIRMIIIINO! GOAAAAAAAL. Klopp finally gets to punch the Burnley air. The host's defence has been caught napping and it turns out to be a costly slip-up. The Brazilian hits it straight to Norris from the centre of the box but the inexperienced stopper has parried it into the back of his own net.

40' Mee has been brilliant and way too busy tonight! Comes in the way of Mane now as he loads up to drive one in. Corner awarded to the visitor.

38' McNeil is making Alisson put in a hard shift. He whips one in on the target and the LFC goalkeeper puts in a stunning dive on the left to ward it off.

35' Westwood's mistimed challenge on Mane hands Liverpool an attacking freekick. Alexander-Arnold, though, fires into outer space.

30' Not again! Klopp doesn't believe what he is seeing. On any other day, his side would be three clear on the scoresheet by now. Salah scurries away from the Burnley defenders but the Egyptian only manages to balloon it over the woodwork.

28' Salah, Firmino and Thiago combine well to dig it deep into Burnley's half. The Spanish, however, drags it just off the target.

26' Another chance goes abegging. Burnley, this time! Lowton goes over the top and it is a surprise Alisson doesn't charge in. Wood was just six yards out when he gets to the ball but he has fired this way wide. The Kiwi is shattered.

24' Mane sends a long ball to Thiago on the right but the midfielder loses control and slips.

21' Burnley sitting deep even as Liverpool continues to work its way into the zone. Robertson fouls Gudmundsson and it is really no surprise that the crowd hates him. Boos all about the park.

18' Smart work from Thiago, who tries to find Alexander-Arnold on the right wing. He, however, ends up miscuing it to Taylor. McNeil cleans up the danger.

15' Another good opportunity squandered by Klopp's boys. Firmino fails to go for the final pull of the trigger after Mane successfully passes the baton inside the box with a wonderful backheel.

13' Robertson's cross has been headed away by Tarkowksi.

10' Alisson steps out and punches the corner kick clear. Wood has an optimistic go from six yards out but the Brazilian comes to LFC's rescue yet again.

9' Burnley has picked up the game's first corner. Liverpool's last night hero Alisson clearly has quite the task at hand. A cross from the left sees Wood work the ball towards Lowton, who goes for goal from the edge of the box but Williams has headed it away to safety.

7' Quite some banter from the home crowd as Robertson loses possession.

2' Mane misses the opportunity of scoring an early opener. How costly will that prove to be? Salah feeds the ball in from the right wing and a deflection off a Burnley defender sees the ball land right at Mane's feet. The Senegalese striker, however, slices this wide.

1' Salah powers one at the heart of the Burnley defence, but Mee comes to the rescue for Burnley.

KICKOFF And we are underway... Burnley is kicking from left to right.

TEAM NEWS

LIVERPOOL

Starting XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Williams, Robertson, Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Subs: Adrian, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, Origi, Williams, Koumetio.

BURNLEY

Starting XI: Norris, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Brownhill, Cork, Gudmundsson, Westwood, McNeil, Wood.

Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Barnes, Rodriguez, Pieters, Vydra, Nartey, Dunne, Richardson, Glennon.

MATCH PREVIEW

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said qualifying for the Champions League would be one of the club’s biggest achievements given how badly its Premier League title defence went this season.

Liverpool, which stormed to the title last season, slipped to seventh at one point in the current campaign, with Klopp’s team struggling with poor form and injuries and suffering a club-record six straight league defeats at Anfield.

 

But with six wins from its last eight league games, including a last-gasp victory at West Bromwich Albion last weekend, Liverpool has climbed to fifth on 63 points, a point behind fourth-placed Chelsea and three behind Leicester City in third.

Two wins would see Liverpool into the top four to qualify for Europe’s elite club competition -- a prospect that looked unlikely two weeks ago.

READ |

“It will be one of the biggest achievements, ever,” Klopp told Sky Sports . “Massive, absolutely massive.

“If you are going to write a book about a season and you want to be depressed afterwards, you would probably take this season.

“Whatever happened this year, it gave us the chance to hold our destiny in our hands with two games (to go).”

Liverpool travels to 15th-placed Burnley on Wednesday and hosts 13th-placed Crystal Palace in Sunday’s final game of the season.

- Reuters

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