Gambler Klopp gets a lift from his bench press
JURGEN KLOPP took a gamble with his team selection but a last roll of the dice with his substitutes spared his blushes at Turf Moor.
Liverpool looked well below their best as they were forced to come from behind against struggling Burnley.
But it took just four minutes for Roberto Firmino to nick three points as the Reds avoided losing ground in the Premier League title race.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s late third goal put the icing on the cake for Klopp, who made seven
changes from Sunday’s last-gasp Merseyside derby win over Everton.
He was certainly looking more poker faced at the hour mark with Burnley leading through Jack Cork’s opener than he was when he raced on to the pitch to celebrate Divock Origi’s winner at Anfield. Origi was given a first start of the season but was hauled off for
Firmino soon after James Milner levelled it up. Klopp had also brought on Mo Salah
in the 65th minute after leaving the Egyptian on the bench despite Sadio Mane being out injured.
In hindsight it looked easy but there were plenty of worried faces in the away end believing the hand Klopp played was the wrong one until Firmino’s goal.
The Brazilian was alert to tap in after Virgil van Dijk stretched to pull back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s clever free-kick in the 69th minute.
Burnley were left with nothing after their promising start and they are now eight games without a league win. Unbeaten Liverpool, on the other hand are now officially enjoying their best start to a top-flight season after 15 games with 12 wins and three draws as they trail leaders Manchester City by two points.
Liverpool may have had all of the early possession but they could not create any real chances in a poor first half, despite Shaqiri’s best efforts.
But Burnley took the lead in the 54th minute when Charlie Taylor headed across goal and Barnes tackled Alisson as he struggled to collect the rebound. It bounced to Cork who found the net much to the anger of the Liverpool keeper and his defence, who felt he had the ball in his hands.
But eight minutes later, Milner curled into the bottom corner after being teed up by Origi. Klopp then turned to Salah and Firmino and his substitutions paid off almost immediately.
Burnley came close in stoppage time when Alisson tipped Ben Mee’s header on to the bar but Liverpool broke away, Salah played the final pass and Shaqiri tapped home to ensure no late drama.
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Hart; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Cork, Brady (Lennon 71); Barnes (Vydra 83), Wood (Vokes 71). Booked:
Vydra. Goal: Cork 54. NEXT UP: Brighton
(h), Sat PL. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Gomez (Alexander-Arnold 23), Matip, Van Dijk, Moreno (Salah 65); Milner, Henderson, Keita; Shaqiri, Sturridge, Origi (Firmino 66). Goals: Milner 62, Firmino 69, Shaqiri 90. NEXT UP: Bournemouth (a), Sat PL. Referee: S Attwell (Warks).