5 Things We Learnt From Liverpool 2-0 Burnley

 Liverpool faced off against  Burnley in GW-2 of  the 20-21 Premier League campaign and won the game 2-0 thanks to the efforts from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane. It was also the first time fans were back at Anfield since the CL game against Atletico in the 19/20 season.

  

Here are 5 Things We Learnt From Liverpool 2-0 Burnley:

1) 2 games, 2 goals for Diogo Jota

Jota headed off  Tsimikas 's cross in the 18th min to score Liverpool's 1st  gaol of the day. The interesting thing to note here is that Jota isn't a typical No. 9 yet he scores his fair share of headed goals. He is not as involved as Bobby in the game but he makes up for that with his output in front of goal.

2) Sadio Mane joins the party

Last weekend, against Norwich, 3 of Liverpool's Front 4 were on the scoresheet. It was Mane who missed out but today, he opened his account for the season, finishing off a brilliant move from Liverpool. 

3) Harvey Elliot impresses on his first Premier League start for Liverpool

Everybody would have expected Harvey Elliot to feature in the 1st team this season but very few would have seen him starting the 2nd game of the season and that too against a physical side like Burnley. Initially, he struggled with the physical side of  things but he became more and more influential as the game wore on. He combined extremely well with Salah and Trent and it was this trio's link up play that led to Liverpool's 2md.      

4) Both full-backs had a great game

Tsimikas set up Liverpool's 1st whereas Trent set up the 2nd. Tsimikas produced a delightful cross which Jota headed into the net. Trent, on the other hand, dinked the ball cleverly into Mane who took the strike first time on the half volley and finished it past Pope, sealing the 3 points for Liverpool.

5) Alisson was outstanding, Matip is underrated and Virgil looked close to his best 

Alisson was outstanding again as he displayed great communication skills and handled Burnley's aerial threat with aplomb. He also made smart saves to deny Wood and McNeil in the first half and Barnes in the 2nd half. In front of him, both Matip and Van Dijk looked rock solid. Matip is easily one of the best centre-backs in the division. Unfortunately, it's his injury record that prevents everyone from realizing it. Let's just hope that he can stay fit for as long as possible. Van Dijk, on the other hand, oozed class as usual. When he returned to action last week, it was obvious that certain aspects of his game never left him. Just like last week, his long balls were on the money. But today, he had to be extremely aware as Burnley posed a greater threat, especially in the 1st half. He defended the Burnley corners extremely well and showed exactly what Liverpool were missing last season. All in all, it was a complete performance from him and it showed us a glimpse of his pre injury form.