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Darwin Nunez scored his eighth goal of the season for LiverpoolLiverpool signalled their title ambitions by going top of the Premier League thanks to a hard-fought victory at relegation-threatened Burnley.
Jurgen Klopp's side have only been beaten once so far this season and went two points clear of Arsenal at the summit despite some wastefulness in front of goal.
The Reds got the perfect start by netting after just six minutes as Darwin Nunez guided in a lovely finish from the edge of the box to end a run of 12 club games without a goal.
The impressive James Trafford was kept busy in the Burnley goal and had already smothered Harvey Elliott's low drive before making a stunning fingertip stop to deny Mohamed Salah.
The wave of attacks from the Reds was unrelenting and Cody Gakpo had a goal disallowed for Nunez's foul on Charlie Taylor, while Salah rattled the crossbar - all before half-time.
Elliott also had an effort chalked off for Salah interfering with play in a offside position, but the visitors did finally get their second when Diogo Jota smacked home in the final minute.
Burnley, meanwhile, failed to work Alisson into a single save and are in deep trouble in the bottom three, now fives points adrift of safety.
Aston Villa will go level on points with Liverpool if they beat Manchester United later on Tuesday (20:00 GMT kick-off), while Arsenal can regain top spot with success over West Ham on Thursday.
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Reds show resilience for top spot
Liverpool are top of the pile approaching the end of the year, but what should have been a canter to victory turned out to be a triumph that had to be grinded out.
Klopp's men had a total of 19 shots and worked Trafford into eight saves, hitting the woodwork once and having two goals disallowed.
But they have shown a formidable resilience so far this term and Nunez's early strike with his eighth goal of the season and Jota's well-taken finish late on secured maximum points.
The Reds should have been out of sight in the first half but Trafford made a string of saves, including to keep out low efforts from Wataru Endo and Salah.
The Egypt international came inches away from adding to his 12 league goals this term but smashed the top of the bar when through on goal, and was also judged to be offside after referee Paul Tierney consulted the pitchside monitor after Elliott's first-time finish.
Liverpool may also feel aggrieved that VAR did not allow Gakpo's thunderous effort to stand in the first half, but it did not matter in a contest they dominated from start to finish.
They have won their last seven games on 26 December and also continued their excellent form on the road, now scoring in their last 14 successive away games.
More to follow.
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Burnley
Squad number1Player nameTrafford
Squad number22Player nameVitinho
Squad number2Player nameO'Shea
Squad number5Player nameBeyer
Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Squad number47Player nameOdobert
Squad number16Player nameBerge
Squad number8Player nameBrownhill
Squad number31Player nameTrésor
Squad number17Player nameFoster
Squad number25Player nameAmdouni
Squad number7Player nameGudmundsson
Squad number15Player nameRedmond
Squad number21Player nameA Ramsey
Squad number34Player nameBruun Larsen
Liverpool
Squad number1Player nameAlisson
Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold- Squad number78Player nameQuansah
Squad number4Player namevan Dijk
Squad number2Player nameGomez- Squad number19Player nameElliott
- Squad number3Player nameEndo
- Squad number38Player nameGravenberch
Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah- Squad number18Player nameGakpo
- Squad number9Player nameNúñez
- Squad number7Player nameDíaz
- Squad number8Player nameSzoboszlai
- Squad number17Player nameJones
- Squad number20Player nameDiogo Jota
Line-ups
Burnley
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Trafford
- 22da Silva
- 2O'SheaBooked at 90mins
- 5Beyer
- 3Taylor
- 47Odobert
- 16BergeBooked at 22mins
- 8BrownhillSubstituted forA Ramseyat 90+2'minutes
- 31TrésorSubstituted forGudmundssonat 61'minutes
- 17FosterSubstituted forRedmondat 85'minutes
- 25AmdouniSubstituted forBruun Larsenat 85'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Gudmundsson
- 9Rodríguez
- 14Roberts
- 15Redmond
- 21A Ramsey
- 24Cullen
- 34Bruun Larsen
- 44Delcroix
- 49Muric
Liverpool
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Alisson
- 66Alexander-ArnoldBooked at 77mins
- 78Quansah
- 4van Dijk
- 2Gomez
- 19ElliottSubstituted forDíazat 67'minutes
- 3Endo
- 38GravenberchSubstituted forJonesat 66'minutes
- 11Salah
- 18GakpoSubstituted forSzoboszlaiat 67'minutes
- 9NúñezSubstituted forJotaat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 5Konaté
- 7Díaz
- 8Szoboszlai
- 17Jones
- 20Jota
- 44Chambers
- 53McConnell
- 62Kelleher
- 84Bradley
Referee:Paul Tierney
Attendance:21,624
Live Text
Match ends, Burnley 0, Liverpool 2.
Second Half ends, Burnley 0, Liverpool 2.
Foul by Diogo Jota (Liverpool).
Charlie Taylor (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Sander Berge (Burnley) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Charlie Taylor with a cross.
Foul by Curtis Jones (Liverpool).
Jordan Beyer (Burnley) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Burnley. Aaron Ramsey replaces Josh Brownhill.
Dara O'Shea (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Goal! Burnley 0, Liverpool 2. Diogo Jota (Liverpool) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Luis Díaz.
Attempt missed. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Trent Alexander-Arnold with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Josh Brownhill.
Attempt saved. Luis Díaz (Liverpool) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Attempt missed. Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt missed. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Wataru Endo with a headed pass.
Substitution, Burnley. Nathan Redmond replaces Lyle Foster.
Substitution, Burnley. Jacob Bruun Larsen replaces Zeki Amdouni.
Substitution, Liverpool. Diogo Jota replaces Darwin Núñez.
Attempt missed. Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Wataru Endo.
Attempt missed. Wilson Odobert (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Sander Berge.
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