Liverpool lose Anfield invincibility as Burnley deflate Reds’ title ambitions

Liverpool’s are slowly letting the Premier League title slip out of their hands. Last season, the Reds ended their 30-year wait to win the league but their title defense hasn’t gone as planned.

On Thursday, Jurgen Klopp’s side was dealt a huge blow when they suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley. Liverpool dominated possession but ultimately could not find a breakthrough.

The Reds have struggled in front of goal in recent weeks and have now gone four games in the Premier League without scoring. The trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have been a pale shadow of their former selves.

Burnley took full advantage of Liverpool’s profligacy. Ashley Barnes grabbed the match-winning goal in the 83rd minute, courtesy of a penalty after he was brought down by Alisson Becker.

Before today, Liverpool were unbeaten in their last SIXTY-EIGHT home matches in the Premier League, not losing since April 2017 against Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace.Sean Dyche has just ended the streak with Burnley. 👑 pic.twitter.com/cujVoSvUUw

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 21, 2021

Liverpool hadn’t lost at Anfield in almost four years in the Premier League, but now their home invincibility is gone. The club had gone 68 games unbeaten at their famous ground.

However, this was coming as the Reds looked lacklustre in the last month and have been treading dangerously. Last week, they were lucky not to lose to Manchester United after Alisson made two great saves to thwart efforts from Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

Injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomes have left Liverpool short in defence and not even the make-shift centre-back pairing of Fabinho and Joel Matip has been able to save the Anfield side.

Klopp’s side used to be unstoppable at home but that was not just because they had a strong defence; it was mainly due to the ruthlessness of the team’s forwards. A team that struggles to score will struggle to win games and that is exactly what Liverpool are finding out the hard way.

Defeat at Anfield. #LIVBUR

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 21, 2021

Liverpool are now six points off the top

Along with losing their home invincibility, Liverpool's title defense is also crumbling slowly. Losing to Burnley has deflated their title chances as they’ve now dropped to fourth on the table.

The Reds are also now six points behind leaders Manchester United, having failed to win any of their last five Premier League games.

"It's a tough one, it's not easy to explain, These boys worked hard tonight and it didn't happen. If something doesn't work, you have to try harder, more often, longer. It was not easy to lose that game and we did it,” Klopp said in his post-match press conference, as quoted by Goal.

"It's not about blaming, we have to sort it together and we will. In football, you don't have a lot of time. That's the problem. You have to break the wall down by trying, in the right mood. We had chances. We can't imagine the title race at the moment," conceded Klopp.

Liverpool’s are currently not playing like defending champions and, as it stands, they might even struggle to make the top four if their slump continues.