Burnley 0-1 Liverpool: Fabinho fires visitors to victory over Sean Dyche's side in the rain and wind

Fabinho scored a first-half winner as Liverpool reduced Manchester City's lead at the top of the Premier League table to nine points with a win at Turf Moor, but Burnley certainly made them work for it.

In wet and windy weather conditions, Sean Dyche's side created a host of opportunities in the first half but couldn't put the ball into the back of the net.

Moments after Mohamed Salah had a penalty appeal turned down, Wout Weghorst was sent through on goal as Burnley countered but he disappointed the raucous home support with a poor dinked finish.

Jay Rodriguez was then denied at point-blank range by Alisson. Liverpool fielded Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino together for the first time since October, but it was Fabinho who broke the deadlock five minutes before half-time as Burnley were made to rue their missed chances.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner delivery was headed on by Mane and Fabinho was in the right place to poke home his fifth goal in seven games.

The visitors tightened up defensively, but offensively they offered little. Firmino went close but failed to hit the target with his header while unmarked, but the offside flag spared his blushes.

And when presented with another chance to wrap up the points, substitute Diogo Jota could only slice wide from a great position.

Burnley's cause was made more difficult when Weghorst was forced off with an injury. And without their target man, Liverpool were able to defend much more comfortably and Jurgen Klopp's side had little trouble in holding on for maximum points.

Victory means Liverpool are up to 54 points, nine behind leaders Man City and the Reds still have a game in hand over their title challengers.

Burnley, meanwhile, remain bottom and thanks to Newcastle's win over Aston Villa, the Clarets are now seven points adrift of safety.

Had Burnley taken their chances in the first half, it could have been a very different game. Klopp deployed a very high defensive line and would have been worried about the number of opportunities his side conceded. But the best teams win even when they're not at their best, as the old adage goes. And for Liverpool, it's now four straight league wins, and seven from their last 10.

The form of Fabinho has been crucial to Liverpool's recent good run, not only in the way the Brazilian protects his defence but now with the number of goals he's chipping in with. He now has five goals already this calendar year.

Meanwhile, for Burnley, another impressive showing fails to yield the desired three points. Despite solid performances against Manchester United and Liverpool, they end the week much further from safety after Newcastle's back-to-back triumphs. They will fight to the bitter end but results need to start turning ASAP.

Burnley: Pope 7, Roberts 6, Tarkowski 6, Mee 6, Pieters 7, Lennon 6, Brownhill 7, Westwood 6, Cornet 6, Rodriguez 6, Weghorst 6.. subs: Barnes 5, McNeil 5.

Liverpool: Alisson 8* Alexander-Arnold 7, Matip 6, Van Dijk 6, Robertson 6, Henderson 6, Fabinho 7, Keita 7, Salah 6, Firmino 6, Mane 6.. subs: Thiago 6, Milner N/A, Jota 5.

Assured in possession, quick off his line to extinguish those early Burnley attacks and made a couple of fine saves to keep Liverpool's clean sheet in tact.

22' - DRAMA! Salah goes down inside the Burnley penalty area under pressure from Weghorst. The referee Martin Atkinson isn't interested and the hosts are immediately on the counter-attack. Weghorst is released with just Alisson to beat, but he tries to be too clever and his attempted dink over the goalkeeper is poor, and Alexander-Arnold is in position to hammer it behind for a Burnley goalkeeper.

28' - GREAT CHANCE FOR BURNLEY! Rodriguez has got to score from the resulting free-kick delivery which falls kindly into his path with just the goalkeeper to beat... but Alisson makes himself big and smothers the effort. That's the closest we've come to the opener.

40' - GOAL! BURNLEY 0-1 LIVERPOOL (FABINHO): Liverpool are ahead! Alexander-Arnold's corner delivery is headed on by Mane, Fabinho charges in and sees his first shot saved by Pope. But he's well positioned to stab home the rebound!

86' - BIG CHANCE! Jota has the chance to secure the points for Liverpool after receiving a pass from Salah. A sliding tackle from Tarkowski puts him off as he slices wide.

Burnley have won just two of their 16 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D2 L12), winning 2-0 at Turf Moor in August 2016 and 1-0 at Anfield in January last season.