Ian Doyle with the main talking point from Liverpool’s Premier League clash against Burnley at Anfield on Saturday afternoon
Dominik Szoboszlai misses the first half penalty(Image: Getty Images)
Forget runaway top three Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa. Ignore top-four rivals Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United. And the same can be said for Saturday’s opponents Burnley as well.
Liverpool’s greatest opponent this Premier League season continues to be themselves as they discover creative new ways to sabotage their own hard work.
Here it was a case of spurning a first-half penalty and being unable to force home a succession of chances before a momentary dip in both standards and concentration midway through the second half was sufficient for the struggling visitors to snaffle a point the balance of play suggests they barely deserved.
In the context of this game, it was bewildering Liverpool didn’t win, particularly after an enterprising first half in which the work Arne Slot revealed had been done on the training ground to overcome low blocks had come to fruition.
Ahead through Florian Wirtz’s latest strike, Burnley couldn’t have grumbled had they been beaten by half-time.
But they weren’t. And the longer Liverpool failed to convert their succession of chances – they had 32 shots at goal with 11 on target – the more they were open to the sucker-punch that inevitably came through Burnley’s only shot on target all match.
That came during a spell of less than 10 minutes when the Reds collectively took their foot of the gas and gave the visitors a sniff of encouragement. It was all they needed.
When was the last time Liverpool put together a 90-minute performance? It’s a question worth asking because, on this evidence, even doing well for 70-odd minutes isn’t enough right now to secure victory.
If the problem of slow starts has, on the whole, been addressed, the main concern now appears an inability to come out of the blocks in similarly sprightly fashion for the second half.
The unbeaten run may have stretched to 12 games in all competitions, but the last four league games have all been drawn, three of them entirely avoidable.
Those eight dropped points could make a huge difference during the final shake-up for the fourth and, at present, last Champions League qualification berth.
Liverpool, though, continue to be their own worst enemies, particularly at Anfield. The smattering of boos at full-time may not have been widespread but they were clearly audible.
This was another frustrating afternoon that could and should so easily have been avoided.
