Liverpool fans had a torrid afternoon as they saw their side lose 2-0 to Burnley at Turf Moor in their second game of the season.
Jurgen Klopp’s side spent the entire game playing in front of a resolute Burnley defence, who brilliantly defended first half strikes from Sam Vokes and Andre Gray.
Liverpool laboured despite enjoying a frankly ridiculous 81% of the possession.
They had 26 shots to Burnley’s 6.
The Reds even had five shots on target despite the fact that Daniel Sturridge had one of his poorest ever showings in a red luminous yellow jersey.
Burnley had one corner and Liverpool had 12, even if one of those – from Adam Lallana – was one of the worst from a Liverpool player in the last couple of years.
But the visitors not find a way past Tom Heaton, Stephen Ward et al.
You can use stats to prove anything, except the stuff that counts.
Stats in Burnley v Liverpool game make for interesting reading. Clubs spend too much time obsessing with stats #LFC pic.twitter.com/24aGeIkbnJ
— Kevin Palmer 💙 (@RealKevinPalmer) August 20, 2016
By way of contrast, Liverpool’s opening-day victory over Arsenal saw Liverpool actually record less possession than their opponents (49% to Arsenal’s 51), as well as winning fewer corners (four to their opponents’ five).
The Reds may have had more shots on goal than Arsenal in that game, and more on target, but their total of 16 efforts on Petr Cech’s goal is far fewer than the number they managed when they came up against Heaton and his newly-promoted defence.
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