There are several Premier League fixtures to enjoy on Saturday afternoon as the new season begins. One of which is between Burnley and Southampton at Turf Moor.
The hosts are one of the bookmakers favourites for relegation this season and will be hoping to take advantage of playing at home to get 3 points on the board.
The Clarets have enjoyed a strong finish to their preseason friendly fixtures.They have defeated Fleetwood Town, Parma and Nice, the latter of which was a thumping 6-1 victory and an encouraging performance for the season ahead.
However, Burnley finished last season poorly in the Premier League and trends show they lost each of their last three matches. There were defeats at home against Manchester City and Arsenal plus away to Everton. Theses were not easy games but it means Burnley have lost four of their last six on home soil.
2 DAYS TO GO | Turf Moor erupts as @Joey7Barton scores against this weekend's opponents @SouthamptonFC 🎯 pic.twitter.com/EvGG8CfK9B— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 8, 2019
2 DAYS TO GO | Turf Moor erupts as @Joey7Barton scores against this weekend's opponents @SouthamptonFC 🎯 pic.twitter.com/EvGG8CfK9B
In addition to losing to Manchester City and Arsenal, Burnley lost to Leicester City and Crystal Palace. Nonetheless, it is not often they fail to score a goal when playing in the Premier League at Turf Moor and Burnley have found the back of the net in thirteen of their last fourteen home matches.
They have scored 2 or more goals in five of those games and have seen over 2.5 goals in nine of their last fifteen league matches at home.
Southampton are expected to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table this season so a win in this game would be a great start to their season. In preseason, the Saints have looked strong and they have won four and drawn one of their five matches.
The wins have come over Preston North End, Guangzhou, Feyenoord and Koln. These results will give Southampton the belief they can win this match and have a good season. However, they failed to win any of their last five Premier League games last season.
Southampton lost to Newcastle United, Watford and West Ham United away from home and were held to draws by Bournemouth and Huddersfield Town at home. Trends show Southampton have won just one of their last seven away Premier League games. They have also conceded 3 goals in three of their last five on the road and have kept one clean sheet in the last eight.
Team news and Burnley have doubts over the fitness of Robert Brady, James Tarkowski, Kevin Long and Steven Defour. Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes are expected to play up-front in a 4-4-2 formation.
Southampton have little win the way of injury worries ahead of this match and should be at full strength. Che Adams is expected to make his Premier League debut up-front and could be joined by Danny Ings.
There have not been many changes at Burnley over the summer which could be a good thing. They are tough to beat at home when at their best and Burnley could get off to winning start in this game, scoring a couple of goals in the process.