Former Burnley boss Sean Dyche has revealed the tactics he deployed to bring to an end Liverpool's unbeaten Premier League home run stretching 68 games.
Jurgen Klopp's side hadn't lost on home soil in the English top-flight since April 2017 prior to suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley in January 2021 - a game which sparked an unprecedented sequence of opposition sides triumphing on their trip to Merseyside.
Brighton, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham followed suit by claiming three points on Merseyside, but it was Burnley who became the team who officially ended Liverpool's remarkable record of shutting out those visiting Anfield.
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An Ashley Barnes penalty converted seven minutes from time proved to be the difference between the teams, despite the Reds fashioning 27 goal attempts as well as boasting 72 per cent of possession. Explaining the gameplan utilised by the Clarets to achieve an unlikely scoreline, Dyche told the Coaches' Voice: "Liverpool would try and make the game expansive from literally a goal kick, so our centre-forwards would lock on, we'd be brave with our midfield and moved our wide players quite high.
"We knew they were probably going to dominate the ball so, within that, we're attempting to stop them from playing out. We know if they get the ball moving, they want to move it quickly and find the lines to pass. As a starting point, we wanted to make the game feel different so they're now playing longer football, have to kick it long at times and it becomes a second ball game. You're trying to put them out of their rhythm a little bit.
"We would lock on and if they do get passing, it's a chance for us to keep them the same side. We really attempted to crunch the pitch. If they kick it long, we think we can dominate through [James] Tarkowski and [Ben] Mee - good headers of the ball. If it drops in, it's about returning to positions and getting back on their deep-lying player for one of our centre-forwards and we crunch the game. If the ball drops, we're hoping our midfielders can gather the ball and make it feel something different for Liverpool to deal with.
"It's fair to say Liverpool are hands-on, play quickly and start the game in a different manner. Imagine the ball goes out to their right centre-back, we're looking to lock on one side so the opposite centre-forward drops into the north side of their deep-lying midfield player. A lot of these teams [like Liverpool] do play short football but they're not adverse, when they need to, to stretch the play. Let's say Alexander-Arnold opens up and hits a long pass to the other side of the pitch, we've got to see how quickly we transfer our shape across."
Aware his players rode their luck at times throughout the contest, Dyche admitted that sides simply cannot turn up to places to Anfield attempting to match Liverpool and must therefore work out ways to counteract their style.
"When you go to Liverpool, although teams try to do it, I think it is naive to go there and think you will dominate the ball It is highly unlikely," he said. "So we worked on the defensive unit and shape to try and get something from the game. We all know Liverpool play a high line so we were looking to play quickly and affect the area behind the back four: can we land it there or clip it on?
"On the day, Dwight McNeil puts a really measured ball into the back area of the box, we don't quite get it but [Matt] Lowton steps in and, as they're [Liverpool] coming out, Barnes spins and you get a penalty out of not that much. All of a sudden you get the chance to win against Liverpool."
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