Liverpool vs Burnley Betting Tips (12/03/17) – Can the Reds Build on Anfield Excellence?

When previewing the Arsenal game we suggested that Liverpool could not play as badly as they had against Leicester again, and happily we were proven correct.

The Reds were outstanding, attacking at will to the extent that the Gunners backline were almost waving the white flag at half time. Roberto Firmino opened the scoring after nine minutes after firing home Sadio Mane’s cross, and the provider turned poacher just before half-time when smashing home to make it 2-0.

As a contest, that was it really. Danny Welbeck pulled one back early in the second period but the Reds were always comfortable enough, and Gigi Wijnaldum’s injury time goal added a gloss that was much deserved given our endeavour. From misery to magnificence in the space of four days; football is a funny old game.

We can massage the facts all we like, and the Leicester debacle still hurts, but in the last 180 minutes at Anfield we have beaten Tottenham and Arsenal and we have beaten them well. That bodes well for the visit of Burnley on Sunday; a decent side on home soil but one who appears remarkably fragile on their travels given the strength they have shown at Turf Moor.

The Clarets are winless in 13 away games in the Premier League term, losing 11 of those, and that is surprising given that this is a team in Sean Dyche’s own mould. Liverpool have shown occasional fragility at Anfield – the 2-3 loss to Swansea immediately springs to mind, but generally speaking when a side has been there for the taking, Jurgen Klopp’s men have done the business; as the heavy wins against Leicester (4-1), Hull (5-1) and Watford (6-1) have testified.

So this will be a routine home win for the Reds, won’t it?

Liverpool Team News

It may well turn out that Klopp selects the same starting eleven as that which so impressed against Arsenal. The main reason for that is Jordan Henderson, who remains sidelined by a foot injury. He is yet to return to training after suffering the knock against Tottenham a few weeks ago.

Daniel Sturridge is another that remains sidelined with illness and a minor hip injury that prevented him from linking up with the squad at their warm weather training earlier in the month.

Other than that, it’s business as usual for Klopp. We speculated he might bring Lucas into the starting eleven ahead of Emre Can last week, but the German showed faith in his young charge and was rewarded with a much-improved display. There is no real reason to change things for the visit of Burnley.

Burnley Form

Such is Burnley’s inconsistency this season that you wouldn’t be surprised if Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde slipped into a claret shirt for the remainder of the season.

At home, Sean Dyche’s side have claimed 29 points; only Tottenham, Chelsea and the Reds themselves have claimed more on their own patch.

But then the flip side is that they are the Premier League’s worst away team with just two points earned from a possible 39. It really is hard to overlook those kinds of stats.

Their woes were well highlighted last week when playing away at Swansea. Despite going a goal down, the Clarets rallied and went into a 2-1 lead early in the second half courtesy of a brace from Andre Gray.

Could they close out their first away win of the season? Could they heck; Martin Olsson grabbed an equaliser before Fernando Llorente stole the three points for the Welsh side in injury time. It was obvious that Burnley simply didn’t have the belief to close out the game.

Liverpool vs Burnley Betting Tips

There are some alarming statistics regarding Liverpool’s occasional inability to beat the weaker sides that date back to the days of Brendan Rodgers. We have lost to Hull, Leicester, Swansea and Wolves already in 2017, as well as drawing with Plymouth. This trend dates back to Klopp’s pair of title wins at Borussia Dortmund; they lost eight league games during that period, and six were against sides from the bottom half of the Bundesliga.

So clearly there is a possibility that the Clarets could spring the ultimate upset, but their inability to gain points on the road speaks for itself. Why that pattern continues is anybody’s guess, but clearly they are going into away matches thinking that they are going to lose. And who are we to argue?

But what we would say is that the Clarets have netted in each of their last six away matches, so our selection here is Liverpool to Win & Both Teams to Score at 15/8. That has landed in five of Burnley’s last six away days.