Liverpool beat Burnley at Turf Moor earlier on in the season.
Burnley striker Chris Wood has admitted that Liverpool ‘weren’t overly good’ when his side face them earlier on in the season at Turf Moor but he praised their ruthless nature.
Ashley Barnes, who is Wood’s strike partner, thinks that the Premier League title race is now Liverpool’s to lose as he thinks they will be able to get over the line.
In August, Liverpool put three past Sean Dyche’s men in a game most remembered for Sadio Mane’s angry reaction towards his teammate Mo Salah, with many now seeing the funny side to that incident.
Nonetheless, speaking to Goals on Sunday on Sky Sports PL (24/11/2019 11:30 am start), Burnley duo Wood and Barnes shared their thoughts on Liverpool as a whole.
“He’s a great finisher [on Mane],” Wood told Goals on Sunday. “He’s very good in the box and he capitalises on little areas. As a defender, you just have to clear everything out [in regards to Mane’s goal v Palace]. Clear you man. Clear the ball and it doesn’t get to Mane in the first place.
Barnes added: “It’s early days [in the title race]. It’s all in their hands, at the moment. It’s theirs to lose. If they keep playing the way they are and the goals [late goals] keep going in then I think they will [win the title].
Wood on coming up against Liverpool: “They were clinical, that’s what we felt when they were playing against us. They weren’t overly good on the day. But they were clinical. They had three chances and scored all three. That’s what good teams do. That’s what champions do at the end of the day and they are finding ways to win every week now and that’s what is setting them apart from everyone else, at the moment.”
Barnes added: “They are being clinical. That’s what they are. They are a great team. The front three are top class and they will go and punish you straightaway. That’s where you need to make sure you don’t get done like that.”
During that game at Turf Moor in August, Wood ended up scoring an own goal in the first half as Mane and Roberto Firmino were also on the score sheet.
That very same duo were at it again on Saturday as Jurgen Klopp’s side left it late to secure all three points against a very tough Crystal Palace team.
Whilst many think that this could be Liverpool’s year, the likes of Klopp will still be wary of what happened last season when Man City made a surging comeback.
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