Liverpool made it six wins in a row in all competitions with a narrow 1-0 win at Burnley thanks to Fabinho’s goal late in the first half
With Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane back in the starting line-up after their Africa Cup of Nations exertions it was the Brazilian midfielder who was the difference - forcing home from close range
Burnley had their chances in a surprisingly even game but spurned all of them with Wout Weghorst and James Rodriguez particularly culpable after running through on goal
Jurgen Klopp's team were not fluent - the closest Salah came was when denied a penalty for what looked a trip by Weghorst - but the win moves them back within nine points of Manchester City
Sean Dyche's side remain bottom of the Premier League table and the victory for Newcastle over Aston Villa means that the Clarets are now seven points away from safety
This was anything but easy for Liverpool but the squad depth is back thanks to the returning Salah and Mane
 Diogo Jota had a dead leg so was forced to miss some training this past week
 Fortunately for Klopp, he has options again up front so was able to rest the Portuguese
Mane was involved in the goal that decided the game, finding space at the front post to get his head to Trent Alexander-Arnold's left-wing corner before Fabinho forced the ball past the impressive Nick Pope at the second attempt
 The man from Senegal looked sharp before being substituted
Salah had his moments too but was restricted by some robust defending from Erik Pieters
 He will be frustrated that he was denied a penalty in the first half
 There was a delay before he hit the deck but the clip on his foot from Weghorst was significant and might have been given after a VAR check
"It was a perfect afternoon," Klopp told 
 "Rainy, windy
 Men's football
 Everything here was set up for a banana skin
 Each ball in the air, so tricky to defend
 The wind comes from all directions
 We played the circumstances rather than suffer from it so I am really happy with that
"They had their moments, that is clear
 But we dealt with it well
 What I liked most about it is how hard we worked for it
 If we had come to play a bit of football, we may as well have stayed in the hotel
 We came to work incredibly hard and that is what we did
 I am really happy about it
"Things are looking bleak for Burnley even after two good team performances this past week
 They were in this game throughout but there was no repeat of the draw they earned against Manchester United in midweek and there must be doubts whether they have the quality needed to stay up now
Seventeen goals is an alarming return and with the wastefulness shown in front of goal here, it is easy to see why it is such a problem
 Rodriguez and Weghorst should have been much more ruthless when clean through on goal
 Burnley still have games in hand
 Winning them is another matter
"It was a good performance against a good Liverpool side," Dyche told 
 "We took the game on and in the first half we created some amazing chances against quality opposition with some good play
"It is a head scratcher today because I thought we deserved more than we got from the game
 That is the story of our season
 We have created some really good chances and not taken them
"We looked a threat and kept them to a minimum but we conceded a really soft goal
 Other than that, I cannot fault the performance
 With that mentality, we will certainly produce in the coming games
"Burnley visit Brighton in the Premier League next Saturday at 3pm while Liverpool return to Champions League action on Wednesday in their last 16 first-leg encounter with Inter Milan at the San Siro; kick-off 8pm
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>
<PAD>