WHO NEEDS THE BALL

When Leicester City won the league last year despite rarely dominating the ball we wondered if the era of possession football was coming to an end.

If the evidence of Saturday is anything to go by, then it’s time for the last rites. When budding coaches attended the FA and UEFA courses in future this Burnley performance should be presented as evidence of how to play without the ball. It was textbook.

When they had it Burnley moved forward quickly and took advantage of an uncertain Liverpool defence.

When they didn’t have it they were so compact. As the clock ticked down, and Liverpool’s possession stats continued to rise, you had the sense we could have played all weekend without Jurgen Klopp’s men scoring.

OFF THE MARK

In more ways than one. This victory eased fears of another slow start for Burnley, something that cost them two years ago and it was a comparison this squad were tired of hearing about after just one game. That can be forgotten now.

It was also an important afternoon for strike pair Sam Vokes and Andre Gray.
Vokes had a taste of the Premier League as a youngster with Wolves, and then experienced it on his way back from injury two years ago. There are mitigating factors but the raw stats were 27 games and counting without a top flight goal. We can stop counting.

For Gray it was a Premier League goal on just his second appearance. He looks to have improved considerably from last season, without losing that finishing ability. 

He admitted last season he could improve, and he’s been good to his word. It’s an exciting prospect for Burnley.

MIDFIELD MAESTROS

It was a Burnley debut for Steven Defour, and while he may have found the tempo tough, he showed enough to suggest he has the class to bring plenty of poise and quality to this side.

His break forward for Gray’s goal was vital and there was some clever movement to try and create space and time on the ball.

But he was outshone by the irreplaceable Dean Marney. The 32-year-old was in and out of the side last year and suffered injury setbacks from his cruciate knee ligament injury, but he looks back to his best now.

He was excellent last week and was again a driving force against Liverpool as well as being a physical presence in the middle of the park.