Jurgen Klopp has praised the way his Liverpool players coped with the “ridiculous” conditions at Burnley to again close the gap at the top of the Premier League.
A game played in arctic conditions with driving rain and howling wind at Turf Moor saw Fabinho score the only goal five minutes before half-time to earn the Reds a 1-0 triumph on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool are now again nine points behind leaders Manchester City with a game in hand and have moved seven points clear of third-placed Chelsea.
And Klopp was delighted with the application of his players at rock-bottom Burnley while lifting the lid on the impact of the weather.
“I am absolutely delighted with the way we played the circumstances," said the Reds boss. "It was so tricky.
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“Only if you stood on the pitch you could really feel the wind and the cold extent.
“Where we were in front of the stands, it didn’t feel like that but on the pitch it was ridiculous because it came from all directions.
“But the boys dealt with it.”
Liverpool have now won on their last five visits to Burnley and have lost only two of their last 46 games in all competitions.
And Klopp added: “Over the years my teams have learnt to deal with the circumstances, we asked ourselves to use it rather than suffering from it.
“That’s what happens when you are here longer.”
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Alisson Becker made a number of solid saves during the first half although Klopp was once more critical of the ongoing approach for play to continue until the offside flag is raised.
“It was a difficult game, yes,” he said. “Burnley had their moments but from a specific moment on (they didn’t).
“It actually felt like they had more moments than they actually had because of the late offside flag,
"There were a lot of situations where we defended them really well and the flag came late or Ali made a save, and there were times they didn’t even put the flag up any more which was really crazy.
“But that’s the way it is. I’m really happy with the win. Today was what was needed.”
Matchwinner Fabinho, who reacted quickest after Sadio Mane had flicked on a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner from the left, has now scored five goals in his last seven games having previously netted just four times in 142 Liverpool appearances.
And Klopp joked: “He probably would have already scored much more goals for Liverpool if I would have put him in the box on offensive set-pieces!
“It was an absolutely great goal. Yes, the space where the ball came to Sadio was the plan, not at that height obviously so Sadio made the most of it with a great header, a great deflection.
“The timing was then perfect, Fab was there with the first chance, and then scores a counter-pressing goal in the six-yard box, which was absolutely outstanding.”
