Liverpool 'lucky' to beat Burnley as Arne Slot gets refreshingly honest

Arne Slot has admitted Liverpool were "lucky" after Mohamed Salah's dramatic last-minute penalty secured victory against newly-promoted Burnley. The Reds appeared destined for a frustrating goalless draw when Clarets substitute Hannibal Mejbri handled a delivery from Jeremie Frimpong in the box, presenting Salah with the opportunity to strike five minutes into stoppage time and propel Slot's men three points to the top of the Premier League table.

Liverpool had controlled possession throughout but found themselves unable to fashion clear-cut opportunities with £125million striker Alexander Isak absent from the squad. And Slot reflected: "A draw was probably what we expected throughout the game. But we tried with the substitutions we made to bring on to the pitch all the players we have who can attack - we had six or seven on in the end. I don't know if that has anything to do with scoring the goal but we did create the penalty and just before a big chance from Jeremie. So relief, lucky."

Addressing Isak's unavailability, Slot explained: "He was doing recovery [today], he had a hard and tough session yesterday. Alex is far from ready for a schedule for three games in a week for 90 minutes. Now we will be able either Wednesday or Saturday to play 45 as a minimum or maybe a bit more.

"But if he plays 45 on Wednesday don't expect him to play 45 or more on Saturday because his body is not prepared for that in our opinion."

Burnley had suffered defeat to a stoppage-time penalty at Manchester United in their previous outing. And manager Scott Parker, who witnessed midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu receive his marching orders following a second booking in the latter stages of the match, confessed: "It's heartbreaking, the way the game finishes for us.

"Two games in row now in the dying minutes two penalties decide the game. It's harsh, but that's this league. It's probably a penalty, the learning from it for us is that we probably need to train defenders to put their arms behind their back."

Meanwhile, Salah said after his decisive strike: "Tough opponent today, we tried our best to get the ball between the lines. It was tough but I am glad we managed it.

"We have a few new players in the starting line-up and it takes time to adapt to our game, and we try our best to make them confident in our game. We don't give up. We try and push ourselves to the limit and as team we did that."