For the third time this season, the final whistle at Anfield was greeted with boos from parts of the home crowd.
In a first since the 1980-81 season in the top flight, Liverpool has been unable to secure a win in any of their three home league matches against newly promoted teams.
Last month, Arne Slot’s team drew 1-1 with Sunderland and then played to a 0-0 stalemate against Leeds on New Year’s Day. Their recent 1-1 draw with Burnley rounded out the trio.
Addressing the boos, Slot remarked, “In my mind, it felt more like frustration than booing. If Liverpool does not feel let down by drawing at home against Burnley, then something is seriously off.”
“I completely empathize with the frustration. I share the same feelings, and the players certainly feel the same way as the fans.”
Indeed, Slot’s team dominated the match, creating ample opportunities against a Burnley squad that scored from their only shot on target.
The stats tell the tale: Liverpool had 76 touches in the opposition box, took 32 shots, with 11 on target, and an expected goals (xG) of 2.95.
“I agree that we should have won this match,” Slot stated on Match of the Day. “I couldn’t have asked for more in terms of creating chances. While we held onto much of the ball, I would love for us to create more.”
“Being more open in our play always raises the question of whether the opposing team can counter-attack effectively, which they didn’t today. I can’t remember how many chances we had, but we only managed to score once.”
Liverpool has not managed to defeat any newly promoted teams at home this season [Getty Images]
At the start of the second half, it seemed inevitable that Liverpool would find a second goal following Florian Wirtz’s earlier strike.
From the Kop, the familiar refrain of “A team that plays the Liverpool way” echoed across the ground.
While it wasn’t exactly “heavy metal football,” Liverpool showed signs of improvement, managing to break through the Burnley defense more effectively.
Wirtz came close to adding another, and Cody Gakpo had a shot cleared off the line. However, against the run of play, Burnley equalized through Marcus Edwards, silencing the crowd at Anfield.
“I wouldn’t say we switched off, but we failed to effectively bring the ball out from the back,” Slot explained. “It’s just part of the game. It reflects a significant part of our season and today was another example.”
In retrospect, if Dominik Szoboszlai had converted his first-half penalty, the outcome might have been different. Nonetheless, Liverpool should have sealed the victory long before Burnley’s equalizer.
“This isn’t the first time it has happened; it’s often frustrating,” Slot noted. “These situations manifest in various ways. Sometimes, we score a goal in stoppage time and expect to win, only to concede another at the death.”
“In football, it can happen that one team has just two chances—one being an almost own goal—and yet they score, while another team has several opportunities but also only scores one.”
Liverpool remains undefeated over 12 games, but the concerning issue is that during this stretch of four consecutive league draws, they ought to have won at least three of those matches.
In addition to the draw at Arsenal, they’ve dropped points at home against Leeds and Burnley and allowed a lead to slip at Fulham despite scoring in the 94th minute.
Those additional six points alone would place Liverpool at 42 points, seven ahead of Manchester United in fifth and just a point behind Manchester City and Aston Villa, currently in second and third.
“We’ve dropped far too many points we didn’t deserve to lose and rarely earned points when we deserved less,” Slot stated. “The responsibility lies solely with us.”
On a positive note, Liverpool can anticipate the return of star forward Mohamed Salah in the coming days.
Salah also missed a penalty during the shootout in Egypt’s defeat to Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations but will be back in Merseyside soon.
With upcoming fixtures against Marseille and Bournemouth in the next week, having their key player back can only bode well for Liverpool.