Raheem Sterling knew how he was going to finish the winning goal against Burnley on Boxing Day long before Philippe Coutinho looped a fine assist into the forward's path at Turf Moor.

Liverpool's hard-fought Barclays Premier League meeting with the Clarets had moved into a 62nd minute without either side breaking the deadlock, when the No.31 made the difference.

He sped in behind the home backline to collect a sumptuous, defence-splitting pass from his Brazilian colleague, dribbled around the goalkeeper and calmly sent a low left-footer in.

The decision to remove the Burnley custodian from the equation was not taken in a split second, however. No, Sterling had made a mental note before the match even started yesterday.

"Before the game, I said that if I got through on goal I was going to go around the 'keeper, and that's what I did," the 20-year-old revealed to Liverpoolfc.com post-game.

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"I already had it set in stone in my head what I was going to do. It was a great through ball from Philippe and I was just happy I could finish it to get three points for the team.

"It's always good to get three points in away games, and it's massive coming here to Burnley - they stuck in really well and had a few goalscoring chances.

"But we defended well at times, and got the goal we deserved, to win the game. It's a great system for both Adam [Lallana] and Philippe to get on the ball.

"They are two players that can create chances for us at any point in the game. With his vision, Phil saw it without looking; it was a great pass."

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Festive football next brings back-to-back Anfield ties for the Reds, with Swansea City the visitors on Monday before Leicester City provide the opposition on New Year's Day.

Sterling feels a tangible sense of renewed belief within the side, who have lost only once in their last nine matches in all competitions, and is now targeting further flourishes.

He said: "We're just taking it step by step. In the last few games, you can really see the belief back in the boys. Even at difficult times, you could see we are sticking together and trying to grind results out.

"It's massive for us to stick together and try to play the football that we know we can play. Hopefully that can get us the wins over the next few games. We didn't start off as well as we would have liked this season.

"But if we can stick together over the next few weeks - it's a difficult time with games coming thick and fast - and come out of the Christmas period with a decent few wins, we can be right in there towards the end of the season for a top four push."