Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley at Anfield on Saturday afternoon but showed glimpses of the football Arne Slot is trying to develop.
Their failure to win means Manchester United move within one point of Liverpool in the Premier League table after their 2-0 win over Manchester City.
Florian Wirtz scored the Reds’ only goal of the game with a fantastic finish into the top corner before Marcus Edwards brought the score back to level pegging.
Liverpool’s passing between the lines was vastly improved and on another day, they may have taken the scoring beyond Burnley. However, this is an issue that has been a regular occurrence this campaign.
Arne Slot has certainly improved Liverpool’s buildup play since the start of the season, but the goals aren’t forthcoming.
Liverpool also remain far too easy to cut open on the counterattack. Despite playing with an incredibly low block defence, Burnley were able to drive up the pitch with shocking ease.
While Slot doesn’t care for the high press quite like Jurgen Klopp did, decreasing Liverpool’s reliance on it has seen them become far too easy to attack.
Liverpool have failed to win all 3 of their home games against the newly promoted sides in a league season for the first time since 1980-81. #LFC
— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) January 17, 2026
This is supposed to be a run of easy fixtures for Liverpool, and it’s worrying how the opportunity to climb the table is being wasted.
Although Liverpool have not lost in the Premier League since late November, they are also yet to win a league game in January. Burnley are now the fourth team to hold them to a league draw in a row.
Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were fantastic and so fluid in attack, though. Dominik Szoboszlai was once again imperious and continues to be Liverpool’s best player this season.
It’s also encouraging to see such massive improvements in Curtis Jones and Milos Kerkez. The former has been on a steady rise over the last few years but now to be appears streets ahead of where he ended last season.
Liverpool have a lot to be worried about but there are also plenty of positives, including that Mohamed Salah will soon return from AFCON.