'I saw reaction to late Liverpool winner - and Mohamed Salah is right'

Liverpool knows that it cannot win every game with a last-minute winner or a Dominik Szoboszlai thunderbolt, but Arne Slot's side has, nonetheless, picked up maximum points in the Premier League so far this season.

This is just the third time that Liverpool has done that — a very good sign — but it is also the first team ever to do so thanks to winners scored in the last 10 minutes (Federico Chiesa, Rio Ngumoha, Szoboszlai, and now Mohamed Salah).

Someone with their glass half empty might jump to the conclusion that it is unsustainable. Factually, that is true. However, there is a flip-side: Liverpool should, in theory, improve, not decline, as the weeks go by.

Slot's men oversaw a significant level of upheaval in the summer, with big players moving on and records being broken left, right and center in terms of incomings. In time, as they gel, the kinks will iron out.

Against Burnley, Florian Wirtz was good without being great, while Salah was anonymous until the match-winning moment. Cody Gakpo showed glimmers, and Hugo Ekitike was involved, but only really in build-up.

On the one hand, Liverpool dominated the game. On the other, it didn't win anywhere near as comfortably as it should have.

One side of the coin is that the performance was much more controlled than against Bournemouth, Newcastle or Arsenal; the other is that it was a game against a team that will almost certainly be back in the Championship next season.

But through the contradictions, a fundamental truth emerges. The bottom line is that Liverpool is top of the Premier League having won each of its four games so far — without having yet played that well.

"The players are adapting to our system," Salah told Sky Sports at the final whistle. "We had a few new players in the starting line-up.

"It takes time to adapt their game to our game but we try to make them comfortable. Alex [Isak] also came last week and he’s going to be in the team. We try to find the balance."

Liverpool looked like it needed another attacking weapon here — Ngumoha was bright, but only thrown on right at the end — and Burnley had made it difficult.

But after 94 minutes of pressure and concentration, it only takes one mistake — one turned back, in this case — for everything to come crashing down. Jeremie Frimpong crossed, Hannibal handled, and the referee, Michael Oliver, was in no doubt.

It could be argued that Liverpool didn't deserve to win, but Burnley certainly didn't. And while the Reds needed a bit of fortune to get over the line, you can also make the case that having so much attacking talent on the field was going to make the difference at some stage.

Slot took calculated risks in adding more and more forward-thinking players to his team and eventually, Salah stepped up and made the telling difference.

The Egyptian is right that it will take time for Liverpool to properly come to the boil. Likewise, Burnley boss Scott Parker and his players are correct in seeing the late goal as a heartbreaker.

Heading into the next round of Premier League fixtures, though, something else is undeniable: Liverpool has a 100 per cent record so far, and it is only going to get better from here.

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