Burnley 0-3 Liverpool: 5 Talking Points | Premier League 2019/20

Liverpool secured their fourth win of the season in as many games, with a comfortable 3-0 win against Burnley at Turf Moor. The win takes Liverpool to the top of the table, and they lead City by two points.

The Reds took the lead in the 33rd minute after Alexander-Arnold's intended cross deflected off Chris Wood's back and took it looping over a helpless Nick Pope. Burnley saw themselves two goals down in the 37th minute as Ben Mee's blunder resulted in Roberto Firmino assisting Sadio Mane.

After the restart, Liverpool had quite a few chances to increase their lead and sealed the game ten minutes from time after Firmino slotted the ball past Pope into the bottom corner. Without any further delay, let us take a look at the five talking points from the game at Turf Moor.

#5 Visible gulf in class as Liverpool stroll past Burnley

Classy Liverpool get the job done against Burnley.

Over the years, Burnley have often made life difficult for the best of teams, with Liverpool being no strangers. Saturday's game between Liverpool and Burnley also highlighted the enormous gulf between these two sides.

The hosts had a chance to take the lead in the initial stages of the first half when Chris Wood's effort was well saved by Adrian. Other than that, Burnley often defended deep, allowing Liverpool to set their camp in Burnley's half.

Burnley's defense was breached after a freak deflection off Chris Wood's back saw the ball loop over Nick Pope and find it's way to the back of the net. In search of an immediate response, the home side were forced to concede possession in key areas of the field (due to Liverpool's high press).

One such instance was when Ben Mee carelessly conceded possession to Roberto Firmino who teed up Sadio Mane for Liverpool's second. Since then, Liverpool took control of proceedings and wrapped up the game ten minutes from time via Roberto Firmino.

A notable point of discussion is the manner in which Liverpool controlled the game in walking pace and capitalized on mistakes made by Burnley. The Clarets looked bereft of any ideas upfront and were well marshaled by Matip and van Dijk. Overall, the game showed the enormous gulf in class between both sides, with the superior team emerging with three points.

#4 Lack of incisiveness and ideas let Burnley down

Ashley Barnes had a difficult outing against the Reds.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche approached the game with a defensive 4-4-2 formation with the two banks of four looking to prevent Liverpool from operating in between the lines and have enough time on the ball.

However, they were outclassed by a ruthless Liverpool side which punished any mistake committed by the home side. In spite of finding themselves a goal down in the 33rd minute, Burnley lacked the necessary composure and quality to break down a resolute Liverpool defense.

The approach taken was one dimensional, where the midfielders played long balls in the hope that Wood and Barnes latch on to some of them to go through on goal. Liverpool's centre half's - Matip and van Dijk, read the game impeccably and won the aerial battle against Wood and Barnes.

This led to Burnley suffering a 0-3 loss against a well-oiled machine in Liverpool in which the home side looked out of sorts. Dyche surely has a tricky task in coming up with a plan by which they can stifle higher quality opposition.

#3 Liverpool's Brazilian duo shine in victory against the Clarets

Stellar displays Fabinho and Firmino helped Liverpool make it four wins out of four.

Liverpool's Brazilian duo Fabinho and Roberto Firmino put in spectacular displays in their side's 3-0 win against Burnley. Ever since the departure of Javier Mascherano, Liverpool lacked a quality defensive midfielder until the arrival of Fabinho from AS Monaco.

Fabinho put in a fantastic display against Burnley, where the Brazilian shielded the Liverpool back four to great effect. The former Monaco man made important tackles and interceptions to break up Burnley's offensive play, thereby denying them from creating many goal scoring opportunities.

The midfielder was seen dropping in between the two centre backs when Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson went high up the pitch, hence providing support to the defenders and preventing Burnley from hitting Liverpool on the counter. Fabinho finished the game with a pass success rate of 82%, and also made two interceptions and five recoveries.

On the other hand, Firmino yet again proved what a vital player he is for Jurgen Klopp after a scintillating display against Burnley. The Brazilian worked tirelessly by dropping deep at times to win possession and break up a few Burnley moves. Firmino latched on to a loose ball from Ben Mee and set up Sadio Mane for Liverpool's second goal.

The Brazilian forward rounded off a splendid display with a well-taken finish in the 80th minute in which he slotted the back in the right side bottom corner.

#2 Victory capped off with first clean sheet of the season

Van Dijk was yet again colossal at the heart of defense.

Despite starting the season with three victories, Liverpool failed to keep clean sheets in any of their games prior to the game against Burnley. Their rearguard upped their game in the sides 3-0 win against Burnley though.

Jurgen Klopp stuck with the same back four that started in Liverpool's 3-1 win against Arsenal. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson occupied the full-back positions, with Matip pairing up with van Dijk in the center of defence.

The Liverpool rearguard performed well against a physical Burnley outfit and did not allow them to have enough joy in the attacking third. Van Dijk commanded the backline with great purpose and won the aerial battle against Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes. His partner Joel Matip used his composure and positioning to great effect in warding off any threat from Burnley's forwards.

Van Dijk finished the game with a pass success rate of 84%, won 10/11 aerial duels and made eight recoveries. On the other hand, Matip made 11 recoveries and was vital in helping his side play out of from the back.

Coming to the full-backs, both Alexander-Arnold and Robertson balanced their attacking and defensive responsibilities to great effect and prevented Lennon and McNeil from having much joy down the flanks.

Along with the performance of the back four, Liverpool's keeper Adrian made two crucial saves at crucial points, denying Chris Wood in the beginning and Jay Rodriguez during the dying embers of the game.

#1 Liverpool in an advantageous position before heading to the international break

Jurgen Klopp's side are in a comfortable position after winning their opening four games

European Champions Liverpool made a flying start to their league campaign by winning their opening fixtures against Norwich, Southampton, Arsenal and Burnley. They head into the international break with a two-point lead over Manchester City, who were held to a 2-2 draw on Matchday 2.

The International break will give Jurgen Klopp some quality time to reflect on the positives and negatives in his side's performances over the four fixtures. It could also give ample time to the managers to come up with various game plans and tactical changes they could implement in the fixtures post the break.

Several players like Alisson and Naby Keita could use this time to recover from their injuries and get themselves back into the fold as soon as the season resumes.

In addition to the already fit players, the return to action of the likes Keita and Alisson could strengthen the team and add firepower from the bench, which will be key as the games will start coming thick and fast after the break, following the start of Champions League and Carabao Cup fixtures.