High flying Burnley takes on struggling-for-form Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Just two points separate the two sides as Burnley sit in 10th with 45 points and the Blades sit in eighth with 47.
Burnley come into this game in good form, winning their last two games in a typical pragmatic style with 1-0 wins over Watford and Crystal Palace respectively.
Sheffield United have been struggling since the Premier League resumed. They drew 0-0 to relegation battlers Aston Villa and suffered 3-0 defeats to Newcastle and Man United as well as a 2-1 loss to Arsenal. However, the Blades may be experiencing a return to the form that saw them become surprise European chasers this season, as they managed to convincingly beat Spurs 3-1 in their last match.
The first time these two teams met in the Premier League was earlier this season, where Sheffield United managed to break down Burnley’s defence quite convincingly and ran away with a 3-0 victory.
Part of Sheffield United’s poor form since the restart is due to the number of injuries Chris Wilder’s side have faced. John Lundstram, John Fleck and Luke Freeman are still side-lined. Jack O’Connell is being monitored before a decision is made on his availability, as he has been out for the last five games with a knee injury.
For Burnley, Robbie Brady and Jack Cork will be assessed and will undergo late fitness tests to see if they are able to play.
Burnley are on good form at the moment and are doing what they do best, sitting deep and preventing opponents from getting high-quality chances whilst taking their own at the other end. When Sean Dyches side are doing this well there’s not a team in the league which won’t find it a battle to break them down.
Whilst Sheffield United come off the back of a 3-1 win against Spurs, that result was more down to Tottenham’s incompetence rather than the performance of the Blades. The win will give them confidence, but there haven’t been enough positives for Chris Wilders men and so I believe they won’t have enough to break Burnley down.
Match Preview written by Luke Robinson.
Comments