Burnley welcome Aston Villa to Turf Moor in a crunch clash as both teams look to take a huge step towards guaranteeing survival.
Victory would see Burnley stay 16th but move five points clear of relegation, whereas Villa can climb to 10th with a win if Crystal Palace fail to beat Watford elsewhere.
Team News
Maxwel Cornet is set to be available for Burnley after he was substituted with a knock in last weekend’s victory at Watford.
Erik Pieters (knee) faces a late fitness test but Ben Mee (knee) Ashley Westwood (ankle), Jay Rodriguez (hamstring), and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) remain absent.
Villa could be without Leon Bailey after he suffered an ankle injury in last weekend’s win over Norwich.
Morgan Sanson (knock) and Kortney Hause (abdominal) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Burnley have lost just one of their last six meetings against Aston Villa (W2, D3, L1).
- Villa are unbeaten in three of four Premier League visits to Turf Moor (W1, D2, L1).
- Chris Wood and Jack Grealish scored for Burnley and Villa respectively in their last two meetings at Turf Moor, although they’ve both since departed for Newcastle and Manchester City respectively.
- Burnley have proceeded to win each of their last four home matches in which they scored first (W4).
- Five of Villa’s last seven away goals have been scored after half-time.
Prediction
Having gone unbeaten since Sean Dyche’s sacking which has seen them climb out of the relegation zone, Burnley simply need to try and continue that momentum between now and end of the season in order to stand any chance of survival.
Last weekend’s defending away at Watford though was scrappy at times with Nick Pope luckily coming to the rescue repeatedly with great saves, prior to a late spirited comeback after excellent tactical changes amidst excellent pace and movement in attack.
Villa meanwhile come into this match off the back of a clinical win over Norwich where they were just excellent in their attacking intensity throughout, amidst waves of wasted chances although their defensive pressing was just as solid to clear set pieces.
Now if Burnley can improve defensively but bring their strong team spirit and Villa perform just as well as they did last weekend, I think we could be in for a scrappy but entertaining contest although the Clarets’ home crowd could be crucial to pushing the hosts towards another victory.
Prediction: Burnley 2-1 Aston Villa
Result: Burnley 1-3 Aston Villa
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