Burnley vs Southampton
Date: 24/02/18
K/O: 15.00
Venue: Turf Moor
Burnley have not won in the league since beating Stoke 1-0 on December 12th. However, they still find themselves in 7th position, a spot in the table they have very much made their own this season.
A poor run of results for Southampton has seen them slip into the relegation zone, yet thanks to the congestion at the bottom of the table a win could see them move up to 13th.
Burnley striker Chris Wood could be in line for a return whilst midfielder Scott Arfield is ‘touch and go’ as to whether he will be available.
Southampton have no fresh injury concerns, and go in to this game as the team in form with only one loss in their last five league appearances. However, three of those games finished as draws against Watford, Spurs and Brighton.
Burnley’s home form has not been as strong as previous seasons- they have averaged 1.38 points a game when playing at home this term. Despite this Sean Dyche should feel confident that his team can get a much needed win against a Saints side in disarray.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor the last few years Southampton has been seen as a model of how to run a successful football club- develop players or buy them in for very cheap and then sell them (usually to Liverpool) for a huge profit whilst still maintaining the same standard on the pitch despite the high turnover of players.
This philosophy seems to have hit a brick will this season however. Pellegrino cannot seem to motivate his players and it will be a surprise if he keeps his job until the end of the season.
Despite Burnley’s poor run of form Dyche’s job has never been under threat and the strong pack mentality which he breeds in his players still feels as evident as when they were winning games at the beginning of the season.
I fear that this game will not be one for the history books, but with both sides desperately looking for points, we may all be pleasantly surprised.
Prediction: Burnley 0 Southampton 0
Written by Dom Clarke.
