Burnley welcome Leeds United to Turf Moor in the first of Saturday’s triple bill of Premier League action.
Irrespective of what Newcastle achieve on Friday evening, victory would see Burnley climb to 13th for at least a few hours.
Leeds meanwhile will stay tenth with a win but move to within two points of ninth-placed Arsenal, who have currently played one game more than Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites.
Team News
Nick Pope is a doubt for Burnley after suffering knocks to his shoulder and knee respectively, although he is likely to start if he passes a late fitness test.
Dale Stephens (ankle) is also set for late fitness checks but Phil Bardsley (hernia) joins Robbie Brady (Achilles) and Kevin Long (calf) remain absent.
Leeds are set to have Liam Cooper in contention after a buttock injury kept the defender sidelined in last weekend’s 3-1 win over Tottenham.
Adam Forshaw (muscle) and Helder Costa (back) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Burnley have lost just one of their last five league meetings against Leeds (W3, D1, L1).
- Leeds have won two of their last six league trips to Turf Moor (W2, L4).
- Five of Burnley’s last six goals have been scored by Chris Wood in their last three matches.
- No Leeds defender has provided an assist in the Premier League this season.
- Graham Scott is refereeing a Burnley home game for the first time since October 2019, when Sean Dyche’s Clarets defeated Everton 1-0.
Prediction
Having secured safety with a clinical routine win at Fulham on Monday evening, Burnley know that this game is a dead rubber but equally a great opportunity for them to build momentum for next season and push for a strong finish to earn more prize money.
Leeds might not have the best of records in recent meetings against Burnley but if they can show the same passion that they did in their attacking play in terms of passing and creativity against Tottenham, they could well stand a good chance if they tighten up defensively.
I therefore do expect to see a decent attacking contest here between two solid teams because Burnley are on a strong goal-scoring run, yet their defending has cost them wins which can be said of Leeds too to a lesser extent so we can expect goals.
A score draw however feels like a good punt because of defensive issues in both teams and Leeds’ recent poor record at Turf Moor, which makes me instinctively feel that a 1-1 result is probably the most likely outcome if both teams are equally matched on pitch.
Prediction: Burnley 1-1 Leeds
Result: Burnley 0-4 Leeds
Leave a Reply