Liverpool vs Burnley: Preview, Team News, and Ways to Watch

Liverpool vs. Burnley

| Saturday, July 11th |
Premier League | Anfield
3:00PM BST / 10:00AM EST

Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope is the current Golden Glove leader with 14 clean sheets this season. Alisson is one point behind. Sean Dyche fields a robust team that is difficult to break down and Burnley will show up at Anfield on Saturday with a plan to disrupt Liverpool’s slick attacking play and force a hard-nosed battle for 90 minutes.

Since losing 5-0 against Manchester City on June 22, Burnley were blessed with a more palatable run of fixtures that saw them pick up points from Watford, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and West Ham. Pope recorded 3 clean sheets along the way. They’re a team playing with some confidence.

With Chris Wood injured, Jay Rodriguez has become Burnley’s forward making things happen, scoring two and providing an assist over the team’s previous 4 games.

I don’t think Virgil van Dijk will have too much trouble with Burnley’s attack but with Joe Gomez looking shaky in recent performances I fear Klopp might throw in a newly-recovered Dejan Lovren into the back line. That makes me a little nervous.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Milner; Salah, Minamino, Mané

I know the chances of Takumi Minamino starting aren’t great but if Jürgen Klopp can get Roberto Firmino to rest his legs for this one, I’m for it. Arsenal and Chelsea are up next and we’ll need him fresh.

It’s Naby Keita or James Milner for me in the midfield alongside Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum, who both started the reverse fixture back in August.

The manager’s defensive choices are up in the air. Andy Robertson is likely to return to his starting role at left-back but it’s entirely possible that Milner could be called into back line action again. Fabinho could drop in as centre-back with Virgil. Neco might be given more minutes but this time in his preferred right back position, with Trent making way. As I mentioned above, there could be some Lovrening in our future.

Prepare for anything.

What the Managers Said

Jürgen Klopp: “I couldn’t respect more what [Sean Dyche] is doing. Because of how he sets it up and how competitive they are every year.”

Sean Dyche: “Even with the power of the players and the manager they have got it is very difficult to win the Premier League. I have absolute respect for the manner and style in which they have achieved it.”

The Officials

Referee: David Coote
Assistant referees: Marc Perry, Nick Hopton
Fourth official: Martin Atkinson
Replacement official: James Mainwaring
VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes

Kickoff is set for 3:00PM BST/10:00AM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.

In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.