Philippe Coutinho missing as Liverpool welcome back Adam Lallana for the victory over Burnley

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Liverpool overcame the absences of both Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah - with Roberto Firmino on the bench - to beat Burnley at Turf Moor.

The fourth member of the attacking quartet, Sadio Mane, got the opener at Turf Moor before Ragnar Klavan stole a late winner as the Reds put six points between themselves in fourth and fifth-placed Arsenal.

Here are five things we learned from the New Year’s Day game…

While Liverpool fans – and some Fantasy Football managers – wouldn’t have been too pleased to see Mohamed Salah not included in Jurgen Klopp’s match-day squad against Burnley, the Egyptian was handed a much-needed break today, albeit one induced by injury.

Salah is expected to be out for around two weeks to allow his body to recover while he also receives treatment on his knee. Klopp has spent Christmas rotating his attackers to ensure the second half of Liverpool’s season doesn’t follow the same pattern as last season where they completely fell away in the league. A minor injury to Salah will likely be a relief, rather than a cause for concern.

After the blunder of Nike, chief sponsors of both Barcelona and Coutinho, announcing the playmaker as having joined the La Liga side before swiftly deleting it, more doubts were left about his future at Anfield today. Coutinho has been in the form of his life over the last few months and Sunday’s events could easily have derailed that.

However, the Brazilian was left out against Burnley, officially because of a thigh injury, meaning the focus would be taken off him and would be on the team instead. Coutinho’s attitude has been superb since having his transfer request rejected in the summer and Liverpool will be expecting him to continue right through January.

Burnley’s home results this season have looked like a piece of binary code given all the 1-0s, 1-1s and 0-0s at Turf Moor this season where they have managed to keep an impressive six home clean sheets in 10 games. In fact, they have only conceded six and scored seven at home in 2017/18.

But when free-scoring Liverpool arrived in Burnley, it was expected that they would significantly add to the number in the ‘goals against’ column – but that was far from the case. Ben Mee and the returning-from-suspension James Tarkowski were again brilliant against Liverpool’s rotated forward line, despite the late, late goal they conceded.

He may have tired in the second-half – allowances have to be made after five months out with injury – but Adam Lallana impressed on his first start for the club this season. Alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, he was one of Liverpool’s better players and he will surely play a significant role in the second half of the season, as the Reds chase a spot in the top-four and look to prolong their run in the Champions League.

Crucially, Lallana also showed little fear of aggravating the thigh injury which ruled him out for so long. Against Bournemouth he was booked just moments after coming on and here his defensive contributions particularly caught the eye. He has lost none of his bite and continues to be an invaluable player at both ends of the pitch for Liverpool.

With three of the so-called ‘Fab Four’ not involved, it was left to the one who has probably been the least effective to break the deadlock and wake up a few of those dropping off into a New Year’s Day nap at Turf Moor. And what a way to do it, with a fantastic turn and finish into the roof of the net.

Mane hasn’t received the plaudits that Salah, Coutinho and Firmino have received – and rightly so, the other three have outshone him so far this season – but he looks like he is starting to find the form that made him so crucial last term. Two assists against Leicester on the weekend and a goal today is exactly the sort of responsibility Klopp will want him to be showing as he rotates.