Arne Slot pushed back firmly after questions about growing fan unrest following Liverpool’s draw with Burnley, asking for context and patience while defending his team’s approach. He made clear he was surprised at the suggestion some supporters were losing faith.

“Do people not expect that to be possible for me? To be successful?” Slot snapped when this question was put to him by Jules Breach for TNT Sports. “It’s new to me, but if you’re one-and-a-half years in the job and have already won the Premier League, when the club has won it twice in 30 years, I’m surprised to hear that.

“But if that is the situation, then I have to accept that. I’ve tried the same things as last season this time around. Every time we’ve been a goal down, I’ve made offensive substitutions, and wherever I can, I am playing a team that is as offensive as possible.”

Slot noted the run of form that has left Liverpool unbeaten in their last 12 matches, though only six of those have been victories. He explained a tactical shift after early-season exposure: adopting greater control of possession to blunt opponents and restrict counterattacks.

“You cannot play attacking football with the amount of ball possession that we have,” Slot argued. “Sometimes, it’s a disadvantage that we have that much ball possession, because then people expect more from the ball that you have.

“But the moment you don’t have it, you have to press really high, because with a low block, you don’t have ball possession. Everyone knows what we need to do in order to make the next step in this transition phase…”

On the Burnley game specifically, Slot refused to accept the idea the match was unattractive. “A Liverpool manager, let alone the players, can never be happy with a draw at home to Burnley. But if you exclude the result, which you can never do—it was the best performance against a low block since I’ve been here.

“We registered 32 shots, we had 75% ball possession, and so I couldn’t have asked for more from my players than they showed—except for the fact that we had to score more.

“They don’t do that on purpose. We had three balls cleared off the line, we missed a penalty, so I completely disagree with people who didn’t find that game attractive. The signs were only positive, and then the week before that, we played Arsenal, where many people were happy with our performance as well.

“Add to that the fact that Mo Salah is back, and so there are a lot of positives. There’s more room for positivity than the result against Burnley gave us.”

Slot also highlighted Salah’s return and underlined that the forward did not start any of the matches in the current unbeaten run, noting the first five of those absences were the manager’s explicit decision. “If the fans were frustrated with the way we played against Leeds and Sunderland, I completely agree with them as we didn’t create enough chances, but what is mainly forgotten is that [was] when Mo was out,” he claimed.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk issued a stark assessment after his side dropped points at Anfield, warning that continued carelessness will make the fight for Champions League qualification much harder. The Reds dominated territory and possession but still conceded, with Marcus Edwards levelling in the 65th minute.

Burnley centre back Bashir Humphreys also chipped in with two saves of his own, clearing a pair of goal-bound efforts from Cody Gakpo off the line in the second half. Earlier in the move that led to the equaliser, Ibrahima Konaté inadvertently fired towards his own goal; Alisson produced a superb reaction stop to prevent a strike on that occasion but could not get a glove on Edwards’s crisp finish three minutes later.

Van Dijk was critical of his team rather than rivals after the draw, saying: “I don’t look at the rest, we have to just look at ourselves,” the 34-year-old told assembled reporters in the Anfield mixed zone post-match, as quoted by the BBC. “If we play like we did even by creating chances in the last of half an hour today, yeah,” he said with a deep sigh, “then it will be very difficult, so we have to improve ourselves first and foremost instead of looking at the others.”

The result was compounded by wins for Manchester United and Chelsea on the same day. Liverpool remain fourth on 36 points with a +4 goal difference and sit three points above Sunderland in ninth. Correct as of Jan. 18, 2026. Top five teams are on course to qualify for 2026–27 Champions League.

Frustration was plain in Van Dijk’s words. “Frustration is the word which is definitely in my head,” Van Dijk seethed. “After 60 minutes, we started to become sloppy and it’s not the first time. We have to address that. It’s been spoken about already but we have to address it again—apparently.”

Looking ahead to a Champions League trip to Marseille, he added: “Monday will be a big one for it [the team talk] because Wednesday will be a very difficult game over there, not only because of the atmosphere but it’s against a [Roberto] De Zerbi team that makes it very difficult for you.” Van Dijk admitted uncertainty over the problem: “If I had a solution we wouldn’t be having these conversations.” On the Anfield reaction, he said: “I don’t like boos, from my own fans, what can I say?”

Manchester United left Turf Moor with a draw after a 2-2 result against Burnley, a game in which they dominated possession but failed to turn control into three points. The match swung wildly: an Ayden Heaven own goal put Burnley ahead at half-time, Benjamin Šeško struck twice after the interval to put United in front, and substitute Jaidon Anthony levelled to deny the visitors victory.

United began well and the away support were audible as they sang Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s name amid talk of a possible interim return. Early openings arrived but were not taken, and Burnley capitalised against the run of play when Bashir Humphries’ cross took a deflection off Heaven and looped over Senne Lammens.

After half-time Šeško changed the game. Fernandes slipped him in for an instinctive finish six minutes after the restart, and a second followed from Patrick Dorgu’s precise cross, Šeško guiding the volley into the net. United looked to have done enough, but Lisandro Martínez failed to close down Jaidon Anthony, who turned and fired the home side’s first shot on target into the corner.

Player contributions were mixed. Bruno Fernandes returned to the starting XI and set up the first Šeško goal before being substituted at 61 minutes. Patrick Dorgu impressed on the left, and Šeško converted two instinctive finishes to double his season tally. Ayden Heaven was unfortunate to be credited with the own goal and had a glaring chance to make amends later.

Substitutes included Mason Mount (61’), Leny Yoro (61’), Joshua Zirkzee (74’), Kobbie Mainoo (74’) and Shea Lacey (84’), with Lacey coming close to a late breakthrough. Unused subs were Altay Bayındır, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia and Jack Fletcher.

Key match statistics underlined United’s control: possession 68% to 32%, expected goals 0.85 to 0.06, total shots 12 to 2 and shots on target 6 to 0. In the end United will view this as two points lost after a performance that produced control but not the result.