Sterling keeps his nerve as Liverpool limp on

Brendan Rodgers can be thankful for the gift of Christmas tonight as a Liverpool side devoid of ideas and uncomfortable in possession walked away from Turf Moor with all of the 3 Boxing Day points on offer.

In a game which Burnley dominated for the most part it was a Raheem Sterling finish that settled it for the visitors.   Sterling latched on to a hopeful overhead lob by Coutinho and calmly rounded Heaton to slot into an empty net; the only point of note for a travelling Kop who once again witnessed a Liverpool side that were for the majority of the match, awful.

Dyche will be disappointed that his side went in at half time on level terms with the visitors after a strong cohesive display. Burnley should have yielded something from their 53% possession and 9 attempts on goal; crucially for Liverpool not one of the home side’s attempts were on target.   George Boyd was the spark behind the Burnley side on show and for all his creativity the net was still found wanting.

Rodgers was forced into an early change as Brad Jones left the field with a thigh strain; cue Simon Mignolet forced back into action after his indefinite layoff.  Mignolet was clearly unnerved by his introduction as he was soon found to be flapping at crosses and unconvincing with the ball at his feet; surely his days at Liverpool are numbered?  

Liverpool, saturated this afternoon with midfielders, will do well not to repeat their first half showing, which was on a par with anything as poor served up by Hodgson or Souness; their only positives a tame shot from Lallana after a divine through ball from Gerrard (bar this the talismanic captain was once again found wanting; anonymous in every sense). Mamadou Sakho provided the other, the Frenchman has looked solid in defence since his return; despite criticism from sections of the local media Sakho looks to be the only defender Liverpool have that could potentially stop the leakage of goals. He will though require a better partner than a once again shaky Skrtel or rightly missing Lovren.

The 2^nd half started with Toure making way for Can, absent for the most part since a man of the match performance against Chelsea and strong showing in the Bernabéu; his introduction seemed to settle the nerves on the Liverpool right.  Liverpool’s recent performances were typified in the 57^th minute when Sterling broke down the left but with no forward option possession broke backwards resulting in a Burnley shot after a sloppy piece of play by Lucas. However this was rectified on the 61^st minute as Sterling kept his head to finish calmly what was a breakaway goal against the run of play.

The watching Liverpool fans and board will be alarmed by the hesitation shown by Mignolet, who in the 67^th minute, managed to allow a slightly wayward back pass run out of play.  The Belgian seemed to misjudge the roll of the ball, under no pressure, and also appeared to angle his run in can what can only be described as a piece of truly shocking play.  He will be thankful that the resulting corner was not punished by a Burnley side; who for all their possession could not fashion a decent attempt on target all afternoon.

If Liverpool are to push on from this Rodgers will have to address a self-appreciation of an overhyped system that was very easily picked apart by Sean Dyche.