Burnley 0-1 Liverpool: Fabinho goal gives title-chasing visitors victory

Liverpool won at bottom-of-the-table Burnley to record a fourth consecutive Premier League victory as they seek to stay in touch with leaders Manchester City.

In testing conditions at Turf Moor, Fabinho scored the game's only goal just before half-time, the midfielder stabbing the ball home from a corner.

Burnley, fighting for Premier League survival, had several good chances before Fabinho struck.

Josh Brownhill had a long-distance effort saved by Alisson, and January signing Wout Weghorst should have done better after racing through on goal.

Chances were few and far between in a scrappy second half although substitute Diogo Jota should have added a late second after a quick Liverpool break but shot wide.

The win means Liverpool are nine points behind leaders City with 14 games still to play, one more than their title rivals, who host the Reds in April.

Burnley remain bottom, seven points from safety.

Old guard return but Fabinho shines

With Sadio Mane available again after helping Senegal win the Africa Cup of Nations, Jurgen Klopp opted to restore the old guard and started with a front three of Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, with in-form Diogo Jota on the bench.

But in driving rain and a blustery wind, the visitors' attacking trio often struggled to make an impact, although Mane did play an important role in the breakthrough goal.

The forward got a crucial flick on Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner and Fabinho ran on to it, hitting a first-time strike that was blocked on the line before the Brazilian followed up the rebound to poke in.

The goal continued Fabinho's impressive recent run of scoring form - it was his fifth in his past seven games in all competitions.

It secured an important three points from a game in which the Reds could easily have slipped up, with Burnley having held Manchester United to a draw on Tuesday.

More to follow.

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Burnley

Squad number1Player namePope

Squad number14Player nameRoberts

Squad number5Player nameTarkowski

Squad number6Player nameMee

Squad number23Player namePieters

Squad number17Player nameLennon

Squad number18Player nameWestwood

Squad number8Player nameBrownhill

Squad number20Player nameCornet

Squad number19Player nameRodriguez

Squad number9Player nameWeghorst

Squad number10Player nameBarnes

Squad number11Player nameMcNeil

Liverpool

Line-ups

Burnley

Formation 4-4-2

1Pope

14Roberts5Tarkowski6Mee23Pieters

17Lennon18Westwood8Brownhill20Cornet

19Rodriguez9Weghorst

Substitutes

Liverpool

Formation 4-3-3

1Alisson

66Alexander-Arnold32Matip4van Dijk26Robertson

14Henderson3Fabinho8Keïta

11Salah9Firmino10Mané

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Burnley 0, Liverpool 1.

Second Half ends, Burnley 0, Liverpool 1.

Offside, Burnley. Ben Mee tries a through ball, but James Tarkowski is caught offside.

Substitution, Liverpool. James Milner replaces Naby Keïta.

Foul by Naby Keïta (Liverpool).

Ashley Westwood (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Offside, Burnley. Ben Mee tries a through ball, but Dwight McNeil is caught offside.

Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Connor Roberts.

Attempt missed. Diogo Jota (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left.

Offside, Liverpool. Virgil van Dijk tries a through ball, but Andrew Robertson is caught offside.

Offside, Burnley. Josh Brownhill tries a through ball, but Maxwel Cornet is caught offside.

Attempt missed. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right misses to the right. Assisted by Andrew Robertson with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Ben Mee.

Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Josh Brownhill.

Corner, Burnley. Conceded by Joel Matip.

Substitution, Burnley. Ashley Barnes replaces Wout Weghorst because of an injury.

Attempt missed. Fabinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Diogo Jota.

Offside, Liverpool. Andrew Robertson tries a through ball, but Roberto Firmino is caught offside.

Substitution, Liverpool. Diogo Jota replaces Sadio Mané.

Offside, Liverpool. Andrew Robertson tries a through ball, but Trent Alexander-Arnold is caught offside.

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