Jermaine Jenas critical of the under performing Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino

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Liverpool will host Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Jermaine Jenas has expressed his shock at Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino missing the number of chances he has been missing and claimed that he ‘hasn’t hit the heights’ of last season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side host Burnley on Sunday afternoon as they aim to close the four-point gap opened up by Manchester City after they beat Watford 3-1 on Saturday evening.

For a number of weeks, the Reds attacking line has come under criticism for losing bite in their play and missing the number of chances they have been doing.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live (08/03/2019), Jenas believes that Klopp’s forward line haven’t been issuing any ‘statements’ as he offered his thoughts on Firmino.

“The opportunities have been there,” Jenas told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s not like they haven’t been creating anything. They miss chances.

“Now, it is a shock because you don’t see Salah miss too many chances or Firmino miss too many chances. These are three players that were phenomenal throughout the whole of last year.

“The statement from a lot of people was if they are going to go and win this league, they need to hit the same form they hit last year. You can argue that Firmino definitely hasn’t hit the heights of what he hit last year. He’s still very important and integral to what they do at the top end of the pitch.”

Firmino has not started a Premier League game for Klopp since his side’s 3-0 home win against Bournemouth at the start of February when he provided an assist.

The Brazil international, who has played in a variety of roles this term from being utilised as a centre-forward to a second striker, will be looking to make his mark against Sean Dyche’s men.

More dropped points here and a poor performance will only add fuel to the fire that Liverpool are feeling the heat in their race to win the title.

Nonetheless, over the course of the season, Firmino has scored nine goals in 28 league games [transfermarkt] after netting 15 in 37 league matches last term [transfermarkt].