Simon Mignolet Pitching into Liverpool Champions League Chase with Improved Form

ANFIELD—Liverpool extended their unbeaten Premier League run to 12 games with a professional 2-0 victory over Burnley at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Brendan Rodgers' side have now picked up an impressive 30 points from a possible 36, having won seven of the last eight with six clean sheets.

Post-match, Rodgers singled out Emre Can for high praise, tipping the young German to "develop into a real world-class player."

"I look at him and I think if you give him another couple of years he could play in any team in world football – that is how highly I rate him," said Rodgers, as per the Press Association (via This Is Anfield).

Can exuded class again on the right side of Liverpool's three-man central defensive unit, even dispossessing a player with a Cruyff turn at one point.

While Can has added ball-playing qualities to what was previously a fragile defence, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet's improvements to make it 11 clean sheets for the campaign is equally admirable.

"

Another home win and clean sheet! FA cup at the weekend @LFC #YNWA pic.twitter.com/psZhyIxFrg

— Simon Mignolet (@SMignolet) March 4, 2015"

 The Belgian's malaise pre-Christmas resulted in him being dropped for Brad Jones, only to be let back in when Jones suffered injury early on in the reverse of this fixture on Boxing Day. It was a moment in that match, which Liverpool eventually won 1-0, that proved the turning point for Mignolet, as he explained in an interview with the Guardian's Andy Hunter last month:

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I played half-decent, came for some crosses, but what happened in that game changed a lot of what’s happened since. It was in the first half when I got closed down on a back pass. It was Boxing Day, my family were over here, and my missus and everyone were having dinner when she said: ‘Simon, are you sometimes over-thinking stuff?’

"

Since then, Mignolet has kept an impressive eight clean sheets in all competitions.

Yes, there is still the odd shaky moment, highlighted by the panic which set in as Dejan Lovren did him no favours with a poor back pass in the first half, which resulted in Mignolet slicing out for a corner. Lovren, seemingly, is like Kryptonite to Mignolet.

Sweeper

Julian Finney/Getty Images

But we now see a new Mignolet to the one three months ago; the one who looked tentative to come off his line, indecisive on whether to collect a cross, and unsure of his own abilities.

Instead, against Burnley on Wednesday night, we saw some Manuel Neuer-esque sweeper-keeper moments from Mignolet. On one occasion, he came racing out to head clear from the edge of the box, colliding with Burnley forward Ashley Barnes in the process. Another saw him running out to clear that was more Bruce Grobelaar than Neuer.

That incident with Barnes in particular is one which he wouldn't have been showing the bravery and decisiveness to make earlier in the campaign.

"

I really like the new Mignolet.

— Paul Tomkins (@paul_tomkins) March 4, 2015"

 Golden Glove Aspirations

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Mignolet's 11 Premier League clean sheets puts him joint-second behind only Southampton's Fraser Forster (who has 13) and there's a real chance that the 26-year-old can complete the ultimate turnaround by collecting the Premier League's golden glove award come May.

It would be a fitting way for Mignolet and Liverpool to finish the campaign, as Neil Jones wrote aptly for the Liverpool Echo recently: "If one player symbolises the transformation in Liverpool’s fortunes over the past two months or so, it is Simon Mignolet. From zero to hero, it has been a swift, and remarkable, return."

It has indeed been remarkable, the cliched "like a new signing" phrase has been more appropriate.

Kudos, too, to Mignolet, who has to deal with the increasingly bobbly Anfield pitch on a regular basis. Rodgers has lamented the quality of Anfield's turf in recent months, and it's an issue which the goalkeeper does well to cope with. Quite often now you'll see him switch to side foot the ball clear rather than opt to lace it upfield, it doesn't get the same distance but it does give more assurance that he'll get a better connection.

The former Sunderland fan favourite looks like a new man, too; far more vocal when instructing his defence and bestowing confidence. He's been a key cog in the new-look Liverpool machine. Long may it continue.