‘Miles away’: Alan Shearer delivers damning verdict of Burnley’s defending following Liverpool defeat

It comes after the Clarets extended their winless run in all competitions to seven games on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat to league leaders Liverpool.

Burnley have now shipped 50 goals from their 24 games, the second worst record of any Premier League side.

While the Clarets were guilty of some poor misses in front of goal at Anfield on Saturday, Match of the Day pundit Shearer opted to focus on their shortcomings at the other end of the pitch.

“It wasn’t all bad for Burnley, but I think the one thing we know and everyone else knows is that they really struggle from set pieces,” he told presenter Mark Chapman.

“There’s only Nottingham Forest that have conceded more goals from set pieces than Burnley and it’s because they have no authority, particularly the goalkeeper.

“[For the first Liverpool goal] there’s no-one near the goalkeeper, he gets the flight of the ball and he has a clear run at it. He should come and collect the ball, but he runs into his own player. He’s looking for a foul but it’s never a foul. There’s just no authority whatsoever.

“I’ve talked before about them playing out from the back. Liverpool want to press and they don’t let them out.

“[For the second goal] Burnley actually win the ball back and they’ve got an opportunity to clear it, but they don’t. [Zeki] Amdouni tries to take a touch and it’s a really poor touch. He gets caught on the ball and eventually the ball ends up in the back of the net. I’m not sure the goalkeeper covers himself in glory there either.

“Another set piece comes in [for the third goal]. If you’re being done by a really clever set piece, a really organised set piece, then you say ‘okay’. But Liverpool keep it alive and yes, it’s a fantastic header from [Darwin] Nunez, but again it comes from a set piece.

“When you’re that weak and you’re that poor from those situations, you’re going to get punished. That’s why they’re at the bottom of the league.”

There was some solace in the fact Burnley were able to carve open some clear openings against Jurgen Klopp’s men, but their finishing was found wanting far too often.

“It wasn’t all bad from a Burnley point of view because they did go there and create problems for Liverpool,” Shearer added.

“At 2-1 it’s a really good opportunity for David Fofana and Wilson Odobert as well, but they fluff both of their chances.

“From an attacking point of view it was good and something to work on, but when you’re creating these chances you’ve got to put them in the back of the net.

“Two or three minutes after the first chance Fofana goes through and misses again. At that point it’s still 2-1 and if that goes in the back of the net…but it’s ifs and buts.

“But from a defensive point of view, Burnley are miles away.”