England Premier League
Thursday 21st April 2022
Kick off at 7:45pm BST
Venue: Turf Moor
Match Preview:
Thursday evening will see one Premier League game and for one team it is a huge one. Burnley are in 18th place and are currently going down. This week Burnley came into the round of fixtures 3 points behind Everton but Everton are playing a day before and the gap at worst could be 6 points. At best for Burnley it remains at three and so they have a huge chance to still have a say in who is going to be relegated this season.
At the weekend Burnley drew 1-1 with West Ham and while they avoided defeat they left the pitch not in the best spirits given that they were leading the game and heading for victory. So it was two points dropped for them. The issue also concerning the club was the surprise sacking of Sean Dyche. Though the club have obviously struggled this season Dyche knew them inside out and had been manager for 10 years.
Mike Jackson is in charge of Burnley and his last managerial job was with Tranmere where he had a win rate of just 23%. He has been with the under 23s at Burnley for the past couple of years and it is unclear if Jackson will now remain in charge until the end of the season or if he will just get a couple of games. Burnley have picked up just 4 points from their last 15 and at home they have just three wins so far with six draws and six defeats. The club did win their last game at home as they beat Everton 3-2.
Southampton followed up their 6-0 thrashing against Chelsea to beat Arsenal 1-0 and while one would have to question the players after the Chelsea game, it is obvious that the Saints when motivated have a back bone and have responded well. Given that the Saints were not playing for anything but pride and Arsenal are trying to qualify for the Champions League it felt like a surprise result but manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was obviously delighted by how his side have reacted.
Like Burnley the Saints have 4 points from their last 15 and overall form has not been good with 3 defeats from their past five games. Southampton are in 12th place and their best possible finish this season would be 9th, a top half finish would feel like a success for the club. On the road Southampton have collected 14 points from a possible 45 and it has been over two months since they last won a game which came against Tottenham.
Team News:
Burnley: Ashley Westwood has a leg injury and looks set to miss the rest of the season. Erik Pieters (knee), Ben Mee (leg) and Gundmundsson (calf) are all out long term with no specified return date.
Southampton: The Saints have no new injuries ahead of this game to report.
Burnley vs Southampton Head to Head:
The last time the teams played this fixture Southampton won 1-0.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture the teams drew 2-2.
From the last 10 meetings played Burnley have avoided defeat in 8 of them.
3 of the last four meetings has seen both teams to score.
Burnley vs Southampton Prediction:
No matter what the Everton result is the previous day Burnley need to win this game and need to win games. Points dropped now will feel like double and this is a huge cup final style game for them, so all of the pressure is on the club. A draw away to West Ham should not be underestimated though especially with an interim manager in charge and the club will be happy to return to home. Like Everton the fixture run ins have all been about how you can perform at home and if you are going to win games, at least win your home games.
Southampton remain a danger simply because they will be relaxed coming into this fixture. The Arsenal victory was a big one for the club after being thrashed by Chelsea, and the players will think job done now. But a relaxed team against one under pressure can hand the advantage to the team who don’t really need the win, so this is a very difficult match for Burnley, and we must remember that this season Southampton have been the better side.
We will back the home side to come through because you can’t drop points at this stage of the season at home. One player to look out for is Maxwell Cornet for the home side who scored 2 goals against Southampton when they last met this season. He is a good price to get on the score sheet and the home side are very good value.
Burnley vs Southampton Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (0.0 Burnley) at 2.01
Anytime goalscorer: Maxwell Cornet at 3.00
Both teams to score at 1.80
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