Liverpool were loudly booed off the pitch at full-time and rightly so as Arne Slot, two baying camera-men up in his grill, puffed out his cheeks and looked like he wanted the Anfield turf to swallow him whole.
Just half a year ago, he could walk into any pub in the city and get a free pint after leading the Reds to the Premier League title in what was one of the finest debut managerial campaigns we have ever seen on these shores.
Now, he might be turned away at the door.
This match, a fourth straight league draw and the most disappointing result yet of a dismal 2026, was Slot’s Liverpool in a microcosm.
For 45 minutes in the first half, they were breathtaking. A balletic Florian Wirtz was gliding around picking holes in Burnley’s stubborn defence at will, Hugo Ekitike was doing his best impression of Brazilian Ronaldo and they were creating chance after chance.
But then after the break came the dark side to this Jekyll and Hyde side. As if to say ‘come on Burnley, you have barely had a sniff, come and have a shot or two’, the Reds retreated, invited pressure from Scott Parker’s men, a relegation cert for most, and that was that.
Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by newly-promoted Burnley on Saturday afternoon at Anfield
As he strolled onto the pitch at the final whistle, Arne Slot looked like he wanted the Anfield turf to swallow him up
After showing what they can do and how brilliant they can be early on in the match, this bipolar team then were brought back down to earth and reminded us why they are so far off the league leaders and will not get near to defending their crown.
They are now 17 points worse off than at this point of last season and would need to win every single game between now and the end of the campaign to better last term’s tally. They are 12 games unbeaten but fans are growing tired with some of the performances.
After Wirtz had put them ahead on 42 minutes, they should have ran away with the game but Marcus Edwards’s 65th-minute equaliser was enough to turn the crowd. In truth, Liverpool never looked likely to win from there, despite Ekitike twice going close.
During the match, thoughts often turned to Casablanca. Not the 1942 Humphrey Bogart classic – but the location of a certain Mohamed Salah, who was playing a game probably wanted as much as a toothache would be: a third-fourth play-off in the Africa Cup of Nations.
What would he have been thinking when Dominik Szoboszlai, the stand-in penalty-taker in his absence, rattled a 31st-minute spot-kick into the crossbar?
And then as Liverpool took the lead in a fine attacking display in the first half, Salah must have pondered whether his imminent return to the XI was as much of a foregone conclusion as he – and many – may have predicted.
His four goals in six AFCON games points to Salah being back to his best, and watching Liverpool create chance after chance only to see them come to nothing here made one think how much their prolific star man is missed.
That sentiment was further emphasised in the second half as Liverpool, who had looked like they were going to run away with this match at the break, invited Burnley to fight for an unexpected point.
In the absence of Mo Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up to take a penalty in the first half and struck the crossbar
Florian Wirtz, who looks to be finding his feet, scored the opener before the interval
But Burnley’s standout man Marcus Edwards sealed the visitors a point in the second half
While Scott Parker and his team deserve huge credit for the draw and how they wrestled control from the champions, it is hard to escape the conclusion that this was an embarrassing result from Liverpool.
They created an expected goals (xG) tally of 2.96 to Burnley’s 0.40, had 73 per cent possession, nine corners to one and, perhaps most illustrative of their dominance, 32 shots.
But none of that will warm the souls of the Liverpool fans who, if they had not already, are starting to lose trust in the manager who gave them some of the best days of their life just a matter of months ago. It is still bonkers to see how quickly it has all unfolded.
There were positives, such as goal-scorer Wirtz’s mercurial display that included a clever finish, plus how much Milos Kerkez has improved at left back. But it all counted for little when Marcus Edwards fired a left-footed shot past Alisson to give Burnley a deserved equaliser.
Not for the first time this season, a poor team started to grow in confidence as Anfield, so often lauded for its atmosphere, grew silent. That is not a slight on the fans, more a reflection on the football Liverpool play.
It is another regrettable episode for Slot and Co.
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Alisson 5.5; Frimpong 6.5, Konate 6, Van Dijk 6, Kerkez 7.5 (Robertson 78); Gravenberch 6 (Mac Allister 78), Jones 5 (Chiesa 87); Wirtz 8, Szoboszlai 5.5 Gakpo 6 (Ngumoha 78); Ekitike 7.
Subs not used: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Nyoni, Ramsay.
Booked: Kerkez.
Scorers: Wirtz 42.
Manager: Arne Slot 5.
BURNLEY (3-4-2-1): DUBRAVKA 8; Tuanzebe 7, Esteve 7, Humphreys 7; Walker 7, Uguchukwu 6 (Laurent 84), Florentino 7.5 (Tchaouna 90), Pires 6; Edwards 7.5 (Mejbri 90), Anthony 7.5; Broja 6 (Foster 72, 6).
Subs not used: Weiss, Barnes, Bruun Larsen, Ekdal, Hartman.
Booked: Barnes, Humphreys.
Scorers: Edwards 65.
Manager: Scott Parker 7.
Referee: Andy Madley 5.
Attendance: not provided.
