Liverpool Searching for Consistency

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Following the good performance in the 3-1 home victory over Arsenal last time out, Liverpool will be aiming to back that up with a win over Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.  Having recently defeated both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at home, Liverpool will be heavy favourites for this match but consistency has been a real problem for Jurgen Klopp’s team this season.

Liverpool have played Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at home in the Premier League this season.  The Reds have also travelled to Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United.  However, their five league defeats have come against Bournemouth, Hull, Swansea, Leicester and upcoming opponents, Burnley.

This suggests, despite Burnley’s inability to win a single match away from home in the Premier League this season, Liverpool could be in for a tough afternoon.  Trends show Burnley have lost eleven and drawn two of their thirteen away Premier League games this season.  Not only that but the Clarets have failed to win any of their previous four league games, losing at Watford and Swansea and being held at Hull and at home by Chelsea.

Liverpool’s form has picked up in the last couple of weeks, with those wins over Tottenham and Arsenal.  The defeat at Leicester will still give cause for concern heading into this match and Liverpool are sure to come up against a well drilled Burnley team, who are intent on keeping a clean sheet in this game.  It will be up to the Liverpool players to break them down and earn the win.

With trends showing Liverpool scoring an average of 2.62 goals in home Premier League games and Burnley conceding an average of 2.15 goals in away Premier League games, there appears to be only one winner.  Liverpool had won the previous four Premier League meetings between the teams, without conceding a goal prior to the 2-0 defeat at Burnley at the start of the season and you must go back to 1974 to find the last time Burnley defeated Liverpool at Anfield.

Although they have the worst away record in the Premier League this season, Burnley have managed to score goals when playing on the road.  In fact, Sean Dyche’s team have netted at least once in their last six away league games, with goals coming at Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal.  In each of those three matches, Burnley lost by the narrow margin of 2-1 and this shows they cannot be underestimated by Liverpool.

Liverpool are proven to struggle against teams outside the top ten and the positive results against Tottenham and Arsenal do not change that fact.  Liverpool have the attacking threat to score at least one goal against Burnley but having conceded goals in seven of their last eight Premier League games, there is every chance Burnley could score a goal in this game.

Do not be surprised to see this match end in a draw and the same old questions being asked about Liverpool’s inability to defeat teams in the bottom half of the table.