Zonal Marking VII – Liverpool F.C. v Burnley F.C.

The 2019-2020 season is coming to an end – Liverpool have been crowned as champions of England again and now have the chance to break Manchester City’s record of 100 points from a single season whilst Norwich City were relegated to the Championship on Saturday afternoon after a turbulent campaign which has seen them loose 24 games so far.

Mo Salah is competing for the golden boot alongside Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Arsenals Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, whilst Alisson Becker is in contention for the golden glove along with Nick Pope – a keeper who produced a man of the match performance when the Reds faced Burnley at the weekend.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Along with Nick Pope’s almost world class performance at the other end of the pitch, Alisson also had a strong game for the most part. He couldn’t have done much more to prevent Jay Rodriguez’s strike which was fired in after the final drinks break, and his quick thinking stopped Rodriquez from causing more problems for Liverpool a few moments later.

Andrew Robertson was the best man on the pitch for Liverpool – his thumping header put the Reds 1-0 up and he came close to scoring another after his cross skimmed towards the far post. It’s great to see him get so high up the pitch and he even linked up well with Sadio Mane on a few occasions.

Virgil van Dijk led the Liverpool defence like he always does alongside Joe Gomez, whilst Neco Williams made another Premier League start for the Reds. The youngster grew into the game as time went on and it was good to see him on the pitch during the second half as well rather than being substituted off at half time like he had been against Brighton. Trent Alexander-Arnold had another poor game when he replaced him however, meaning that it has been a mixed bag of performances from Liverpool’s first choice right back since the Reds returned to action last month.

Score: 7

Midfield

Jordan Henderson’s campaign was drawn to a premature end after it was announced on Thursday night that the Liverpool captain would be out for up to 6 weeks with a knee injury which he picked up against Brighton earlier on in the week, giving way to a midfield partnership of Gini Wijnaldum and Fabinho whilst Curtis Jones made his first Premier League start for the Reds.

Like Naby Keita on Wednesday night, Jones was fantastic for Liverpool against Burnley. He positioned himself where he needed to be and where he would be most effective – rarely making a sloppy pass on the day (especially within the first 45 minutes of the game.) The youngster even managed to get a few chances on goal with a first half strike which almost deflected in and another which was sent just wide of the goal.

Fabinho also had another standout performance for the Reds – his balls over the top presenting Liverpool with a number of attacking chances up front with one of them being his assist for Robertson’s header.

In a week which has been shrouded in doubt over the Dutchman’s future at the club given the lack of news surrounding his new contract and growing rumours of a replacement for him, Gini Wijnaldum had perhaps the worst performance out of Jurgen Klopps midfield during the game, although some of the hate which he received on social media afterwards did seem a little unjust.

Score: 8

Attack

It cannot be overstated just how good Nick Pope was for Burnley in goal. Liverpool could have been 3 or 4 nil up by half time had it not been for his efforts, but the Reds were unable to capitalise on the numerous chances which they had throughout the game and ultimately lost out from securing all three points.

In the first half, Pope saved Salah’s shot which was sent curling towards the top corner with a fantastic backwards save which saw the keeper in the back of his own net before he stopped another from Mo just minutes later. He then saved a super shot from Sadio Mane on the brink of half time, and comfortably kept a hold of shots from Salah and Trent after the interval. With that in mind, the attack for Liverpool was a consistent one which constantly kept the Burnley defenders on guard, but their inability to finish their chances ultimately let the Reds down.

Other than these chances, Mane also dragged another shot wide in the opening minutes of the second half and Roberto Firmino came close to ending his goal drought at Anfield again with a shot which hit the post, but again, Liverpool’s attack just couldn’t finish their chances.

Score: 7

Man of the match (Liverpool) – Andrew Robertson