BURNLEY, England (AP) — Liverpool isn’t letting up in its pursuit of Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
A 1-0 win over last-place Burnley in challenging conditions at Turf Moor returned second-place Liverpool to within nine points of City on Sunday.
The Reds also have a game in hand, at home to struggling Leeds on Feb. 23, and still have to play City away in April.
Fabinho was the match-winner for Liverpool, the Brazil holding midfielder keeping up his unlikely scoring run of late by bundling the ball into the net from close range in the 40th minute after his initial shot had been saved following Sadio Mane’s flick-on at a corner.
Fabinho has now scored five goals in his last seven appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, including two in one game in the FA Cup.
In wet and blustery weather, a typically physical Burnley team posed a tough test — hardly ideal for Liverpool ahead of its return to Champions League action next week at Inter Milan in the last 16.
Jordan Henderson went off before the hour mark having managed to play on despite hurting his knee in the first half and Sadio Mane got his first start since winning the African Cup of Nations with Senegal, starting ahead Diogo Jota because of the Portugal winger’s dead leg.
Burnley mostly troubled Liverpool in the first half, with January signing Wout Weghorst proving particularly hard to pin down. The Dutchman’s finishing was off, though, failing with a chip over Alisson after being played clean through and then poking a shot wide from further out.
Mane struck a shot straight at goalkeeper Nick Pope from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick before playing a key part in the only goal.
Burnley was dealt a blow in the second half when Weghorst went down with a knee injury and eventually had to go off.
The team is seven points from safety but has played fewer games than all the other teams in relegation danger.
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