It may have lacked the gorgeous football of their 3-1 victory over Arsenal the weekend prior, but Liverpool’s narrow win over Burnley on Sunday felt like one of the most important of Jurgen Klopp’s first full season in charge at Anfield - which will inevitably be measured upon whether his Reds side finish in the top four.

It was a tepid and tense ninety minutes that will mostly be remembered for Emre Can’s stunning winner from long range which paved over the cracks of the frustration that swelled around Merseyside for the opening 45 minutes, until Georginio Wijnaldum cancelled out Ashley Barnes’ opener with Liverpool’s first shot on target in first half stoppage time.

Jurgen Klopp has described it as the first ugly win of his Liverpool career and that was very much the case; ‘Plan B’ has become a recurring soundbite in the Premier League this season and the absence of one in Klopp’s playbook has been criticised since the turn of the 2017, amid a run of form that has seen Liverpool surrender points to four of the bottom six in Sunderland, Swansea, Hull City and Leicester.

"I thought it was our first ugly game we have won. Usually when we are not good, we lose. We are not used to it yet, so it feels a bit strange. It was intense and we had to fight. We had a few moments, so I don't think it was only luck that we scored the equaliser. It was clear we had to do a few things better in the second half, and we did. We were really in the game, we fought, took the battle and I liked that, it's this kind of game which we haven't won until now."

But the victory over Burnley proved Liverpool’s Plan A can at least be adaptable. Emre Can provided the aerial protection the Reds have often lacked this season, winning the most aerial duels of any Liverpool player by simply sitting in front of the centre-backs rather than being part of the midfield three.

That squeezed Barnes out of the game in the second half and moved the battle into the midfield rather than on the fringes of Liverpool’s defence. Alongside the German international, Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana held their own, while Lucas Leiva came on in the latter stages to help see out a win, despite Gary Neville’s concerns that Liverpool would need to score again to stop a Burnley side still making progress going forward.

The style of the win couldn’t have come against more fitting opposition than Burnley, and not just because Sean Dyche’s side are amongst the most attritional, organised and physical in the Premier League. Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the campaign against the Clarets way back in August, when they were simply out-fought at Turf Moor, and that kind of loss has been a motif of their campaign.

In fact, all five of Liverpool’s Premier League defeats this term have come against sides in the bottom half, picking up just 1.75 points per match and keeping only two clean sheets out of a possible 15. They struggle against direct opposition and packed defences that don’t open up enough to allow their gegenpressing game to take effect - the Reds’ speciality, rather is securing good results against sides closest to them in the Premier League table.

But with the top six so far ahead this term, the race for the title and Champions League qualification is being decided by results against the Premier League’s rank and file. Chelsea have lost to Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham this term but are still top; Manchester City have lost to Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool but are still six points clear of the Gunners in fifth.

Liverpool's remaining fixtures:

 

Man City (A) - Crystal Palace (H)

Everton (H) - Watford (A)

Bournemouth (A) - Southampton (H)

Stoke (A) - West Ham (A)

West Brom (A) - Middlesbrough (H)

After their clash with Manchester City on Sunday, Liverpool will have faced all of their top six opposition for the season. The rest of the campaign is split between the rest of the top half - Everton, Stoke, West Brom and Southampton - and five sides in the bottom ten. With Champions League qualification on the line, Klopp’s side may have learnt how to win ugly at just the right time.

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