Marcus Edwards scored a second-half equaliser as Liverpool were held to a frustrating Premier League draw by struggling Burnley at Anfield.
Florian Wirtz gave Arne Slot’s side the lead in the first half with an emphatic strike, 10 minutes after Dominik Szoboszlai had hit the bar from the penalty spot.
Liverpool dominated possession throughout but failed to take their chances, with the hosts having 32 shots and Burnley keeper Martin Dubravka making eight saves.
And Edwards punished the home side with a superb finish past Alisson in the 65th minute after he was played through by Florentino Luis.
Liverpool pushed hard for a late winner but could not find a second goal and this will go down as two points dropped against a side who are 19th in the table.
Saturday’s result extended the Reds’ unbeaten run to 12 games in all competitions, although this was a fourth straight league draw.
A point takes Liverpool one clear of Manchester United in fourth, but Slot’s side missed the chance to cut the gap to second-placed Manchester City and Aston Villa in third to five points.
Burnley remain winless in their past 13 league games but this draw would have felt like a win. The Clarets are still deep in the relegation zone but a point at Anfield could do wonders for their confidence.
In his pre-match news conference, Slot was asked about Liverpool’s challenges facing a low block.
Before this game, his side had spent the largest proportion of their time building up against low blocks in the league this season (25%), according to Opta.
There were no prizes for guessing how Burnley were going to set up – but Liverpool initially played with an added spark compared to recent weeks and regularly got in behind the visitors’ backline.
Slot spoke about wanting things to “really click” and, to a degree, they did with full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez playing a key part down their respective flanks.
Dubravka was forced to make three decent saves in the first half while Szobozslai hit the crossbar with his penalty before Wirtz delivered the breakthrough.
In the second half, Wirtz came close again before Cody Gakpo had an effort cleared off the line.
“A team that plays the Liverpool way” came the chant from the Kop during the second half, but – against the run of play – the Reds were made to pay for their wastefulness.
Just minutes before Burnley scored, the visitors had already come close to levelling and that should have been a warning sign.
In the end, the statistics will not make for pretty reading: 76 touches in the opposition box, 32 shots, 11 on target and an xG of 2.95 for Liverpool – but ultimately just one goal and one point.
For the first time in the Premier League era, Liverpool have failed to beat any of the three newly promoted clubs at Anfield in the same season.
And not for the first time this season, there were boos from the home crowd when the full-time whistle went.
As Anfield emptied out, the Burnley players and their travelling supporters celebrated jubilantly.
West Ham’s win at Spurs was bad news for the Clarets’ slim survival hopes, but this result was a rare moment of joy in an otherwise tough season for Scott Parker’s side.
They are yet to keep an away clean sheet and are winless in their past 13, but showed great spirit to earn a point at the champions.
On another day, Burnley could have been three or four goals down by the time they scored, but they showed courage and took advantage of Liverpool’s sloppiness.
After failing to score or assist in any of his first six Premier League appearances for the club, Edwards has three goal involvements in his past six games (one goal, two assists).
The visitors also had Dubravka to thank for limiting Liverpool with a string of crucial saves.
In all probability, Burnley look unlikely to stay up – but they have now only lost two of their past six league games (drawn four), having lost seven in a row before that.
Liverpool travel to Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday (20:00 GMT) before a trip to Bournemouth in the Premier League next Saturday (17:30 GMT).
Burnley host Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor next Saturday (15:00 GMT).
