Liverpool entertain Burnley at Anfield in a huge Premier League clash at opposite ends of the table.
Should Manchster City win at lunchtime, victory would see Liverpool return to the summit although they could extend their lead if can better City’s result if Pep Guardiola’s men fail to beat Everton.
Burnley will stay second bottom regardless of the result but three points could put them four points off safety depending upon results elsewhere.
Team News
Ibrahima Konate is suspended for Liverpool after he was red carded in their defeat at Arsenal.
Wataru Endo is back in contention following his return from international duty for Japan.
Thiago Alcantara is ruled out after he suffered a muscle injury in North London but Conor Bradley is still sidelined after he missed the trip for personal reasons.
Ben Doak (knee), Konstantinos Tsimikas (shoulder), Joel Matip (ACL), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah (both hamstring) remain absent.
Burnley could welcome Charlie Taylor (shoulder) and Hannes Delcroix (knock) back into contention.
Jordan Beyer (thigh), Nathan Redmond (hamstring) and Luca Koleosho (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Liverpool host Burnley at 3pm GMT on Saturday 10 February at Anfield, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool have lost one of their last 12 meetings against Burnley (W9, D2, L1).
- Burnley have claimed five points from their last five visits to Liverpool at Anfield (W1, D2, L2).
- Jurgn Klopp’s Reds have kept clean sheets in their last four games against Burnley, during which they scored eight goals across that period.
- Virgil van Dijk has played more passes than any other Liverpool player this season, with 1,618 passes in 21 league appearances.
- Dara O’Shea and Lyle Foster have produced more assists in the top-flight this season than any other Burnley player, with three assists apiece.
Prediction
After a surprisingly lacklustre performance in their defeat at Arsenal with a flat attack, Liverpool will be happy to have this easy-looking fixture now because they really need to bounce back if want to keep the title race in their hands and ensure that the loss was a mere blip.
Burnley meanwhile need to use the last 20 minutes of their comeback draw against Fulham as a platform to build upon if want a result here, but they must first be absolutely defensively resilient and most importantly clinical.
I however do feel that Jurgen Klopp’s Reds will have a strong reaction within them to last weekend’s disaster, which Burnley will do well to limit if can play with the same defensive resilience as they did at home in late December.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Burnley
Result: Liverpool 3-1 Burnley