Centre-back Ragnar Klavan was Liverpool’s unlikely match-winner at Burnley as his close-range header in the fourth minute of added time made light of the absence of three of the ‘Fab Four’.

With £75million world-record defender Virgil van Dijk waiting in the wings for his debut, the focus has been turned on the Reds’ central defenders, but it was at the other end of the pitch where Estonian Klavan proved his worth.

Jurgen Klopp’s side looked like they had thrown away two points when Johan Berg Gudmundsson’s 88th minute equaliser cancelled out a stunning strike from Sadio Mane.

However, Klavan popped up barely a yard out to nod in from a free-kick move to secure a hard-fought 2-1 win.

 

Star man

Adam Lallana

The midfielder made his first Premier League start of the season and was the busiest player on display, making a potentially goal-saving tackle at one end and conducting proceedings at the other.

Highlight of the match

Mane’s brilliant one touch and left-footed strike into the roof of the net for the match-winning goal.

Data point

Victory was only Jurgen Klopp’s fifth in 19 competitive matches in January since he took charge at Liverpool.

Player ratings

Burnley

Nick Pope 7
Phil Bardsley 6
Ben Mee 6
James Tarkowski 6
Charlie Taylor 6
Scott Arfield 7
Steven Defour 7
Jeff Hendrick 5
Jack Cork 5
Johan Berg Gudmundsson 6
Ashley Barnes 7

Subs

Sam Vokes (for Hendrick, 71) 7
Nahki Wells (for Arfield, 86) 6

Liverpool

Simon Mignolet 6
Trent Alexander-Arnold 7
Dejan Lovren 5
Ragnar Klavan 6
Joe Gomez 6
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7
Georginio Wijnaldum 6
Emre Can 5
Adam Lallana 7
Sadio Mane 7
Dominic Solanke 5

Subs

Roberto Firmino (for Mane, 72) 6
James Milner (for Lallana, 86) 6
Joel Matip (for Oxlade-Chamberlain, 90) 5