Scott Parker still not over 'painful' Liverpool defeat ahead of first Anfield return

The Burnley head coach oversaw a 9-0 mauling when he was in charge of Bournemouth in 2022. However, the newly promoted side escaped relegation on that occasion and Parker is hoping Burnley can achieve the same this season

Scott Parker said he will not reflect on his 9-0 loss at Anfield(Image: )

Scott Parker has insisted that he will not allow his humbling 9-0 defeat at Anfield in August 2022 to impact his thought process ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game against Liverpool.

Parker’s thrashing at Anfield three and a half years ago resulted in his dismissal as Bournemouth head coach. It was Jurgen Klopp’s biggest margin of victory as Reds boss, with Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez both grabbing braces, while Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk and Fabio Carvalho were also on target, in addition to Chris Mepham’s own-goal.

Saturday’s trip, now as Burnley coach, will be Parker’s first since that ill-fated afternoon, but the ex-midfielder provided some perspective ahead of Saturday’s match.

“I mean, I'm definitely over it,” he said. “In what we do, you can't fester too long.

“It was a painful day, of course it was, and it wasn't enjoyable. But we go back there now with an opportunity to go and get a positive result.

“I also have a result before that 9-0, where we go and beat them 1-0 with Fulham and they were champions that year.

“How quickly things can turn from a positive result with Fulham, a 1-0 win, to obviously a painful one.”

Parker also oversaw a 1-0 win at Anfield as Fulham coach(Image: )

Parker’s Burnley currently sits 19th in the table and it last experienced Premier League success in October. That’s a run of 12 without a victory, although the Clarets have drawn three of the last five.

Sitting eight points from safety, Burnley must start picking up points soon.

Starting at Anfield feels like a tall order; however, the Lancashire club will be buoyed from its meeting with Liverpool in September, when the Reds needed an injury-time penalty to finally find a way past Burnley’s organized rearguard.

Parker is hoping to engineer Burnley's escape from the relegation places(Image: Getty Images)

“It was a painful defeat [to Liverpool] at Turf Moor earlier in the season - there were a few results in that early part of the season that hurt,” said Parker.

“We don't look back though - we only look forwards. We took massive positives from that performance, and those can stand us in good stead for this weekend at Anfield.

“We're going to need to be at our best - and if we are, hopefully we can be on the right side of a result.”