In the Premier League’s jam-packed fixture list on New Year’s Day, Aston Villa will be looking to climb out of the relegation zone when they travel to Burnley.
Five defeats in six league games have seen Villa drop into the bottom three. Dean Smith’s side are one point behind seventeenth-place West Ham, but the Hammers do have a game in hand over Villa.
On the other hand, Burnley are six points ahead of Villa. Sean Dyche’s men find themselves thirteenth after five defeats in their last seven league outings.
Burnley appeared to be heading in the right direction after consecutive victories over Newcastle and Bournemouth.
However, defeat to Everton on Boxing Day was followed by a poor display in a 2-0 loss to Manchester United last time out.
Dyche is known for building his team on strict organisation and a solid defence. But Burnley have conceded 32 league goals this season – leaving them with an unhealthy goal difference of –9.
The Clarets have also failed to score in their previous two games and have only managed one shot on target in that time.
Still, if Burnley’s recent record is poor, then Aston Villa’s must be seen as shambolic.
Villa have become involved in a relegation battle after a run of disappointing results which has seen them win just two of their last 11 league games.
Smith’s side were completely dominated by fellow bottom-three rivals Watford last time out, and this will no doubt worry the manager.
To make matters worse, Villa have the poorest away record in the top-flight this term. Just four of their 18 points have been picked up away from Villa Park in 2019/20.
Burnley have no fresh injury worries but Sean Dyche is likely to rotate his team due to the busy festive period.
Villa will be hoping that key defender Tyrone Mings can recover from a hamstring problem as he has been sorely missed.
Burnley are unbeaten in the last three meetings between these two teams and this trend looks set to continue on Wednesday.
Both sides are on a poor run. But Burnley’s superior head-to-head record, coupled with Villa’s dismal away form makes Sean Dyche’s side the favourites.
Forebet predicts that Burnley will claim all three points. A clean sheet could also be on the cards for the home side.