Burnley host Southampton on Saturday at Turf Moor in the Premier League. Sean Dyche’s team did not start the Premier League campaign well losing their opening match to Leicester City, 4-2. Now, Dyche needs his side to collect points against the Saints to kickstart the season.
Southampton started the season equally as poorly. The Saints lost on opening day 1-0 at Selhurst Park to Crystal Palace. They followed it up with a defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, 5-2.
Ralph Hassenhuttl’s team looked good against Spurs in the first half but capitulated just after the break. Southampton started the 2019-20 season in similarly poor form. A loss to Burnley will add pressure to manager Hassenhuttl.
Burnley are unbeaten in seven straight games in the Premier League versus Southampton. The Clarets posted three victories and four draws during that run of games.
Last season, the Clarets claimed two wins against Southampton. Their meeting at Turf Moor finished 3-0 in favour of the home side. The reverse match at St. Mary’s Stadium ended 2-1 with Burnley getting a second-half winner.
Dyche’s latest injury report is long and several players could miss out on Saturday’s game. As it stands, Jack Cork, Ben Mee, and Johan Berg Gudmundsson are all three ruled out of the game.
The manager could have limited options in attack as Jay Rodriguez and Ashley Barnes are unlikely to play due to their respective injury issues. Robbie Brady and James Tarkowski are also injured and doubts for the game.
Hassenhuttl’s only absentee is Nathan Redmond. The winger is out with an ankle injury and won’t return until after the October international break.
The Southampton manager is still waiting on summer signing Mohamed Salisu to get fully fit. Salisu arrived from Real Valladolid in the offseason but has not played due to poor fitness.
Burnley played just one match this term. Their opening day fixture against Manchester United was postponed. This will be just their second match of the campaign.
The Clarets did play in midweek in the Carabao Cup against EFL Championship team Millwall. Burnley won 2-0 thanks to goals on either side of halftime by Josh Brownhill and Matej Vydra.
Three of the last five games between Burnley and Southampton finished in draws. With both teams searching for form, Saturday’s game is likely to finish in a score draw. Expect the game to be low scoring with under 2.5 goals tallied.