Had Jurgen Klopp remained in German football, he would be sitting by a pool somewhere in the Arabian Gulf, preparing for some warm-weather training in the winter break. It is doubtful he would have felt much better than he did walking back to the dressing room punching the frozen, sodden Lancashire air.

Liverpool’s return from their three festive league fixtures has been nine points and this week will see the arrival of Virgil van Dijk, the world’s most expensive defender.

Of the clubs forlornly chasing Manchester City, Liverpool will welcome 2018 with most optimism.

Ironically, their winning goal, deep into stoppage time, was made by Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan, the two men who probably have most to fear from Van Dijk’s arrival.

In the 94th minute, Lovren headed on Emre Can’s free-kick and Klavan bundled it into the net a few yards in front of those Liverpool supporters who had resigned themselves to the draw.

A few moments earlier, Burnley had equalised from a very similar move, a cross headed on by Ashley Barnes and nodded low into the net by Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

Sadio Mane broke the deadlock with a fine long-range strike (Getty)

By making seven changes from the side that had beaten Leicester at Anfield two days before, Klopp had taken a risk and been rewarded at the death. With an FA Cup tie against Everton on Friday, there were few alternatives to a radical reshuffle, although most of the attention swirled around Philippe Coutinho’s absence.

Of the members of Liverpool’s ‘Fab Four’ strike-force, Coutinho most resembles John Lennon in that he is the most creative and the likeliest to break up the group. You can say two things about it. Coutinho’s absence coincided precisely with the opening of the January transfer window and Barcelona are still prepared to pay a vast sum of money for him. The rest is speculation.

Perhaps it was a good game to miss. The conditions were a caricature of English conditions in January. Freezing rain sluiced down from the Pennines beating out a rhythm on the slate roofs that surround Turf Moor. Klopp stood resolutely on the touchline, a hooded cagoule jammed over his peaked cap peering at the game through the murk.

Mane is mobbed by his team-mates after breaking the deadlock (Getty)

Often, it was a match best obscured. On Saturday, Burnley had drawn goallessly at Huddersfield, managed by David Wagner, Klopp’s best friend in football. For most of the match they threatened to do the same to Liverpool.

The stalemate was broken spectacularly as Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a long, fiercely-driven ball across the edge of the Burnley area.

Sadio Mane, whose skill has been rather overshadowed by Salah’s goals, controlled it with one foot, turned and shot into the roof of Nick Pope’s net with the other. Smoke from a red flare drifted out of the stand and into the rain. It was fabulously worked, the goal of 2018 so far – a judgement that might last a little beyond New Year’s Day.

Guðmundsson thought he had won his side a point (Getty)

The goal appeared to break Burnley’s resistance and Pope had to push a swirling 20-yard dive from Alexander-Arnold past his post to prevent a second goal that would have killed off the game. Thus far, they had played pretty well, dealing with Liverpool’s blunted attack and launching the odd counter-attack of their own that always seemed to be one pass short of setting up the opportunity for a breakthrough.

This was Burnley’s fifth game without a win, although this does include a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford and fine performance here. Most of the good things that have happened to their manager, Sean Dyche, have come in years that end in seven. He signed professional forms with Nottingham Forest in 1987, reached the FA Cup semi-finals with Chesterfield in 1997 and moved into management ten years later.