Liverpool's Surprising Loss and The EPL Summary As we Move Into FA Cup Weekend
By: Absalom Mulama
Posted on Friday, January 22, 2021
As we move into the FA Cup matches this weekend, Liverpool last night faced a surprising defeat away at Burnley’s turf. The game ended on a 1-0 score line with the only goal coming from a Burnley penalty caused by Liverpool’s Goalkeeper Alisson Becker and taken by Ashley Barnes.
The last minute penalty came after lots of defending from Burnley and a fairly quiet first half. The first half however ended with a heated bust up when the two managers Jurgen Klopp and Sean Dyche exchanged harsh words in the tunnel.
"We have to be better in the last third in order to win, not only in the build-up play," said Jurgen Klopp in the post-match interview with Sky Sports.
There was also a moment of red card tension when Liverpool’s Fabinho jumped for a header against Barnes and he appeared to purposely kick him which sparked a mini battle between the two players. Other team mates got involved in the quarrel but none of them was sent off, after the referee deemed the incident not to be too serious.
After last night’s game, Liverpool stay at 4th place with 34 points, while Burnley move about 7 points away from the relegation zone, with 19 points. Manchester United maintain 1st place, with 40 points, after their comeback win (1-2) over Fulham on Wednesday night.
Close after at 2nd place are their noisy neighbours, Manchester City with 38 points but one game behind. With a win over West Brom next Tuesday, the Cityzens will surpass The Red Devils and jump into the top spot. The 2015 Premier League ‘Miracle’ Champions, Leicester City are closely behind the Cityzens at 3rd place but on par with them on 38 points.
Chelsea and Arsenal are in mid table at 8th and 10th place with 29 and 27 points respectively. Chelsea are facing a hit and miss season after their loss to Leicester City sparked debates among football pundits about the manager, Frank Lampard getting replaced.
Arsenal on the other hand seem to be in inspired form recently after registering four wins and one draw in their last five matches. They have dug themselves out of the dreaded lower half of the table and popped back into the tenth position. They now face Southampton in the FA Cup this weekend before getting back into Premier League action with the same fixture on Tuesday 26th January.
On the lower half of the table, Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield battle for survival with 12, 11 and 5 points respectively. Of the three, newly promoted Fulham are in the best position to fight their way out of the red zone with one game in hand. They face Brighton next week who are also fighting not to slip back into the red zone, so this will be a must win game for either team.
West Brom and Sheffield on the other hand will have much of a difficult task getting back to the safe zone. Sheffield just registered their first win of the season earlier this month and West Brom face an in form Man City next week so they have a daunting task ahead.
