Liverpool return to Premier League action this afternoon with a trip to Burnley in the first fixture of this Sunday’s action of the English top flight. Red’s summer signing Alexander Isak could make his debut.
Arne Slot will hope all the attention on the Sweden international does not prove to be a distraction as his Liverpool side bid to continue their good start to the season.
Slot’s men are big favorites to take all three points, not only because of the inferiority of their opposition, but because they have added to an already-lethal attack, by signing Alexander Isak for £125m on deadline day.
Liverpool have already scored in 37 straight Premier League matches, their best ever streak, and after spending close to half-a-billion pounds in the summer, it is tough to see any defence stopping them at present.
This is comfortably Liverpool’s easiest fixture on paper over the coming week, with Atletico Madrid and rivals Everton making the trip to Anfield in the next seven days, so Slot will hope his players can replicate a similar performance to the one Liverpool produced the last time they face Scott Parker, beating his Bournemouth side 9-0 in 2022.
The recent history makes a Liverpool victory even more probable, because the Reds have won on eight of their last nine trips to Turf Moor, including each of the last six, meaning Burnley could become just the fourth side in history to lose seven successive matches against Liverpool at home.
In the Premier League era, Burnley as expected have struggled against Liverpool, losing 14 of the 18 meetings between the two. When facing the reigning champions in the top flight, Burnley have lost on 10 of the last 11 occasions, conceding 30 goals in the process, but the one exception in that run was against Liverpool, when Sean Dyche masterminded a win at Anfield in 2021.
It is tough to gauge where Burnley are at after three games, because they were handed two daunting away trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, which both ended in valiant defeats as reported by Softfootball, but they beat fellow newly-promoted side Sunderland in their only home outing.
Burnley were noted for their astonishing defensive record in the Championship last season, conceding just 16 goals in 46 games, but after just three games in the Premier League, they have let in six, meaning if they conceded two or more here, they will become just the second team in English football history to concede at least half of their previous season’s entire tally in the first four matches of the following campaign.
The Clarets are unbeaten in 25 home league matches, but that will certainly be put to the test here by Liverpool, and it does not get any easier, because the following three matches are also against sides from last season’s top seven Nottingham Forest, Man City and Aston Villa.
Burnley Team News
Burnley could welcome Jordan Beyer and Connor Roberts back from knee injuries very soon, but this game looks like it will come too soon for the pair of them.
Zeki Amdouni is out for the long term with a serious knee injury, but Hjalmar Ekdal should be fine after sustaining a slight knock on international duty with Sweden.
Florentino Luis was Burnley’s only late addition in the transfer market, and the Benfica loanee could make his debut in this one.
Burnley Confirmed line up: Dúbravka, Walker, Hartman, Estève, Ekdal, Ogochukwu, Cullen, Laurent, Tchaoouna, Foster, Anthony
Sub: Weib/Worrall/Edwards, Humphreys/Florentino, Fleming/Pires, Broja/Hannibal.
Liverpool Team News
All eyes will be on Liverpool’s teamsheet at noon to see whether Isak will make his full debut, but the likelihood is that he will start on the bench, having only played 18 competitive minutes this season, for Sweden away in Kosovo on Monday.
The form of Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo also makes it tough for Slot to drop either to make way for Isak, and the latter continued his fine start on the international stage too, scoring for the Netherlands in Lithuania last week.
On the injury list, Ibrahima Konate will be fine after featuring for France during the break, but Jeremie Frimpong is still recovering from a hamstring issue and Curtis Jones is also absent.
Reds Confirmed line up as seen on Liverpool X handle: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Ekitike, Gravenberch.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Bradley, Chiesa, Robertson, Frimpong, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Prediction
An away win is widely expected here, with Liverpool heading to Burnley with unbeatable record intact. Arne Slot’s men have started this season in the same way they finished last, and they will be title challengers once more. Burnley, meanwhile, are going to have their work cut out for them over the course of the campaign.
