Trip to Turf Moor Dyche against his former club. No favours. Solid, stolid and no nonsense. Will McNeil leave ? The usual. They have one less day of rest. Safe from relegation not challenging for Europe but it's the usual cliche offered by every manager at this time of the season. Take every game as it comes. Will the lack of a crowd help ? It won't help if we make a lethargic start and are not sharp on set pieces. We would do well to remember dominating the game earlier in the season despite Quique being in charge only to be undone by these. Team wise. Expect a similar line up to that played against Leicester. Personally I would prefer to see Pussetto on the left instead of Pereyra. He looks disinterested and unmotivated although I have not had the chance to interview him in the psychiatrists chair. We badly miss Deulofeu who can keep up with Sarr and offer a dual threat down both flanks which allows either Gerard or Ismaila more freedom. I would also bring in Pedro to come into play as an impact substitute. I think he is fully fit and rested and the weather will suit him as it will be extremely warm around 29-30 degrees Celsius even with the late kick off at 6pm. Pretty normal in the Brasileirao. If Cathcart is fit again should we split Dawson and Kabasele ? Dawson was superb and Kabasele provides the pacy foil to mop up the bits and pieces. They will be going up against Wood and Rodriguez/Barnes with Barnes off the bench I expect. A formidable duo to come up against. Once Femenia tires there is a real problem for Pearson. With sicknote Janmaat (we desperately need to find a right back or two in the transfer window if we do stay up) the solutions are not appetizing. Bring in Mariappa. Ugh. Or switch out Kabasele given his pace to bring in Cathcart. That leaves two defenders strong aerially but not the most mobile at a time when Barnes may be coming in as a substitute. Not to mention Vydra who with his pace and accuracy will be a concern. Or go to a back three with two wingbacks which might be a better solution in terms of a natural fit but necessitates formation changes which after a long period of inaction is not eminently suitable either. Given the conditions, the lack of match fitness the players need to be mindful of not wasting passes and chances and to adopt a countering strategy. Sarr is the main outlet but Pussetto can be a useful one too. I know many think he is not up to par despite him having barely played but in his time with Huracan and his first season at Udinese you can see he has ability and quality. He will offer more defensively too. It may boil down to simply who can conserve their stamina over the duration of the match and the timing of the substitutions. Therefore seeing Cleverly on the bench was welcome (and he put it about against the Foxes) but I think Quina with his energy and lack of fear should also be brought in with Pedro. Drop Mariappa out completely and put Pereyra on the bench and see his attitude. If it is more of the same just leave him out. We cannot afford to carry passengers. Despite his quality if a player is not prepared to make the effort, if I were the manager I would take a less gifted player in his stead but one who is prepared to scrap for everything. Fingers crossed the staff have also paid attention to reids.
Always a horrible game akin to playing palace. Always a bit of hopeful expectation because they’re a mid table team, but ultimately normally leads to a frustrating 90 minutes of trying to play football against the ultimate percentage football team. Im still damaged from our game at home against them last season. They made absolutely no attempt to attack us for pretty much the entire game, yet still won.
We were totally in control against this bunch of thugs until Wood and Barnes both smashed Dawson in the face and forced him off injured. Cathcart and Mariappa couldn't handle their physicality so hopefully there's a strong ref this time. Also, apparently with no crowds the ball is in play much more so will be interesting to see what new time wasting tactics Dyche has come up with to try to fight this, as Burnley only really want the ball in play for short bursts to hoof set pieces into the opposition box.
Hopefully they get smashed by City on Monday. A couple of extra days recovery should give us an advantage especially if they get badly beaten and pick up a couple more injuries.
Playing Burnley Away is like going to a dirt field trying to force a pig skin through a barbed wired fence while negotiating past 10 statues. I've only been to Turf Moor once, when we won 7-4, the city was quite nice but the football they play is so stilted and one dimensional. I'm not expecting a high tempo game that get's the fake crowd's blood pumping. It will be slow, lethargic and painful. It's free to watch on PICK TV - so perhaps more viewers than watched us play Leicester. Dyche will moan, his players will foul and hoof, and we will try to counter their slick style of football. I just think however, this time we might sneak it. 1-0. (Cleverley '78)
Tough game. Dyche, big physical side, got some quality too. They've picked up 39 points from 29 games, a figure we should be on had we not had so many poor decisions go against us, plus all those late brain-fart moments we've had this season. Before the lockdown I had this down as a certain defeat, now I'd give us a chance. Burnley have City away on Monday, two days rest, then play us. We have two extra days rest on them which makes a difference when you're at the beginning of the lockdown restart. I'd take a point from this one, but I'm hoping we can nick it late on when they hopefully tire.
I hate our matches against Burnley. They’re painfully anti-football and seem to get the better of us most of the time. Fail to win this though and our game against Southampton will take on huge significance.
They're three points off 8th and 5 points off 7th, so they definitely have half a chance of Europe, albeit they'd be outsiders
Looking forward to seeing Sarr against their ********* defenders, they won't be looking forward to that one bit
This is one that now behind closed doors should make this a bit easier for us. Need a win... Draws no good at this time of the season.
Behind closed doors without a home crowd to pressure the ref I'd hazard a guess Burnley's niggly physical approach is less of an advantage In a 90 minute game based on talent I reckon we will edge it
Might be a bit too early to be labelling games as 'must-win' as we have a lot of very winnable games to come, draw might not be the end of the world, though it'd put more pressure on the next games. No reason we can't win this mind, 2-0 Watty
Definitely do think it's time to replace Pereyra in the starting line-up. I've thought Pussetto has looked half decent when he's come in on the right, little bit lightweight of course but big defensive workrate and decent play. And although we've not seen much yet from Welbeck, we know there's quality in there somewhere... surely. I think either could come in and freshen things up on that side. I'd go for Pussetto.
They'll have him limping, or most likely stretchered off, before he gets a chance to do anything much. See the frustration on Dyche's face if Sarr is still present after about 10 minutes play.
We face them 68 hours after they leave the pitch against Man City. But they probably won't look tired. Dyche will give them a pre-match meal of gravel and schadenfreude. Wasn't it Burnley who put Helguson out for the rest of the season we nearly got relegated under Aidy? No doubt they'll be trying to do Sarr from the moment he gets off the bus. An early goal or two would be nice. We have to keep picking up points before Man City destroy our goal difference.
I like Welbeck, and think he’s a talented player when he’s fit, but I don’t think we have enough time to get him back to fitness and to the required level of sharpness. We’ve seen with Pereyra and Chalobah how long it can take players to regain form following a long layoff, and Welbeck has hardly played in what must be 18+ months. At this point, I think we just have to accept that it was a gamble that hasn’t paid off. Expecting him to produce the required level isn’t realistic. I don’t think Bobby is going to be what we need, as his heart doesn’t seem in it. Pussetto didn’t show much in an attacking sense when given minutes prior to lockdown, but his work rate was impressive (very Watford fan thing to day, I know). I’d be happy to see him given a couple of games, provided we have Joao Pedro, or even Penaranda on the bench to provide something unpredictable if we really need to get a goal.
Pussetto has had precious little playing time to show anything in an attacking sense. He's pretty creative, good vision, pacy when he gets going and versatile upfront. As I said I'd drop Pereyra for him and bring in Pedro when he can run tiring defences ragged. Shame that GD is unavailable as Sarr could be that sort of option too in that he would not have to be the sole attacking threat and spend so much time running around. Mind you he looks pretty fit and full of running.
The thing with Bobby P is he can just pick up the ball and score. He doesnt do it often enough but he can do that
He's been a useful option off the bench against tired defenders this season, just the one goal and precious little else when a starter though
Whew, Villa could have really given this game some added importance, but as it is, it's not quite as crucial as it could have been
Yes, but the fact is that he almost never does it. He is capable of it, for sure, and he has done it. But he's barely scored at all in recent times, let alone in a magic solo way. Add that together with his incredibly lacklustre and unbothered performances that have been on a clear downward trajectory, and that is essentially a pipe dream.
I have seen him score some great goals, but now he spends the whole time trying to take on defenders by himself and loosing the ball, perhaps the prem have just sussed him out
Do you think he'll play again this season after being stretched off within the first 10 mins? You don't think Dyches cloggers will allow him to skip past them do you ? EDIT just seen LBs similar comment above.
Never been a better time to play them assuming they don't play the reserves vs Citeh. Must win game. Burnley 3 (Vydra 3, 12, 17) WFC 0 (Deeney missed pen 1st minute)