Burnley v Liverpool preview: Mohamed Salah a doubt for Reds' trip to Turf Moor
Monday 1 January 2018 07:53, UK
Mohamed Salah is a doubt for Liverpool's trip to Turf Moor as they take on Burnley in the Premier League on New Year's Day.
Liverpool's current leading scorer limped off in Saturday's 2-1 win against Leicester after scoring both goals, with manager Jurgen Klopp set to assess his fitness ahead of the game.
"I don't know in this moment exactly (what it is) but he was limping. That's never a good sign, to be honest," said the Liverpool boss. "We have to see what his problem was. We will see what he can do for the next game.
"For me it is the most strange situation. It is the third time this year (playing twice in three days) and people think 'Wow, how will you do that?'.
"The good news is Burnley had to play Saturday as well. I don't think they got the point (in the goalless draw against Huddersfield) without running so they have the same thing to do and that is then fair play."
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Burnley have been one of the surprises of the season, currently sitting in seventh place on 34 points, and will be looking to get back to winning ways after two successive draws, including a goalless meeting with Huddersfield on Saturday.
"The goal still, is to build on last season," said manager Sean Dyche. "Now we're doing that, obviously, but we've got to physically do that.
"So when you get that goal achieved, whenever that day comes when we get the same points or more, hopefully, then how do you move forward from there? Then we'll reassess."
Team news
Although Salah could be sidelined, Simon Mignolet will return at Turf Moor as Klopp continues to rotate his goalkeepers with the manager confirming he would make at least one change.
Defender Alberto Moreno (ankle) could be fit for Friday's Merseyside derby FA Cup tie but as the transfer window does not open until the day of the game, new signing Virgil van Dijk cannot be registered in time to play.
Burnley defender James Tarkowski returns from a ban. The player has served a three-game suspension and the Clarets must decide whether to recall him to the starting line-up or retain Kevin Long and Ben Mee in central defence.
Left-back Stephen Ward (knee) and striker Chris Wood (leg) remain doubtful, while Robbie Brady (knee) and Tom Heaton (shoulder) are long-term absentees.
Opta stats
Burnley won this exact fixture 2-0 last season - they haven't beaten Liverpool at home in consecutive league games since March 1967.
Liverpool suffered that defeat in August 2016 despite having 80.4 per cent possession - the highest for a losing side in a Premier League game since 2003-04.
Burnley are unbeaten in their last four league games played on New Year's Day (W3 D1), with these games producing a total of 19 goals (F12 A7).
Liverpool have won only one of their last seven away league games played on January 1st (D3 L3), beating Ipswich 2-1 in 1994.
The Clarets conceded three goals in their last home Premier League match against Spurs - as many as they'd conceded in their previous nine at Turf Moor this season.
Liverpool have gone 15 games in all competitions without defeat (W10 D5) - their joint-longest unbeaten run under Jurgen Klopp (also a 15-game run ending in November 2016).
Burnley have won each of their last six home league matches played on a Monday since losing 3-1 to Chelsea at Turf Moor in August 2014.
Liverpool have played 18 matches in January in all competitions since Jurgen Klopp took charge - they have only won four (D7 L7), with two of those against League Two opposition in the FA Cup (Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle).
Merson's prediction
What a player Mohamed Salah is, and he will be a miss if he's out for Liverpool because the running he does off the ball is as good as anybody I have seen for a long time. But I still think Liverpool will win this game.
Burnley are a bit of a funny team recently. I saw them get dismantled by Tottenham and then score twice at Manchester United and then draw at Huddersfield.
Virgil Van Dijk is a good signing for Liverpool. He is a footballing centre-half which is what they need. People look at Liverpool and say how do they find it hard to break teams down when they have those attacking players, but it's not just about them, it's about the players who give them the ball.
Jordan Henderson isn't really going to put the ball through the eye of a needle and neither are Emre Can or James Milner or Georginio Wijnaldum. Now when they play at home against 10 men behind the ball it gives you another option of a centre-half coming out which is so hard to play against.
You look back in 1996 when Matthias Sammer played in a sweeper system for Germany. I know Liverpool won't play that way but it's so hard to pick that person up if they are comfortable coming out with the ball. They won't get it straight away, but if they can get it so Can drops back into centre-half when Van Dijk goes forward, then they will be a massive force.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (11/2 with Sky Bet)
