Burnley vs Fulham – Match Preview
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This is a fixture that has an air of ‘six pointer’ about it as Burnley who start the weekend lying 16th in the Premier League, go up against a Fulham side who currently find themselves lying second bottom of the table.
Going into this clash it is Burnley who have a four point gap over their West London counterparts, a distance that suggests that it is more of a must win game for the visitors. At the same time though, the Clarets cannot be in the mood to be handing out any gifts at Turf Moor on Saturday.
This fixture also pairs two sides that had contrasting F.A. Cup fortunes last weekend, for Burnley it needed an injury time penalty from New Zealand international Chris Wood to book their place in the 4th Round.
While for Fulham they suffered one of the upsets of the round, as they were dumped out at home to lowly Oldham Athletic. A defeat that although embarrassing, may actually serve them better off between now and the end of the season.
The reason being that for so many clubs at the bottom end of the table, they have to weigh up a decent cup run and the extra matches that it will bring, versus what effect it will have on trying to stay out of the relegation zone.
And now that Fulham are free from any distractions, then they will be able to fully focus on trying to keep their heads above water. Something that they are struggling to do when you consider that they are four points from safety.
Their last league outing saw them fare no better as they were crushed by a rampant Arsenal at the Emirates. Once again, the Cottagers defensive issues came home to roost as they shipped no fewer than four goals to their opposition.
This means that they have now conceded 47 goals in just 21 matches, an average of 2.23 goals against per game. A statistic that is damning when making a case for their defence and also one that hints at possible relegation.
Not only that but the notion that they have a good attack line and it is only their defence which is letting them down is something that is somewhat misconstrued, with just 19 goals to their name they have their joint third lowest tally in the division.
Quite simply Claudio Ranieri has his work cut out if he is to get Fulham out of the drop zone, while at the same time Sean Dyche knows that the job is nowhere near done at Burnley, even if back to back wins have given his side some breathing space at the lower reaches of the table.
Burnley have had their own defensive issues this season, a pale comparison of the bedrock that they were 12 months ago. However, their last two results have shown that this issue has at least been identified and it is something that they are working to improve on.
The fact that Nick Pope has been recalled between the sticks and overseen both wins can be no coincidence and with his presence once again this weekend, then the hosts will be confident of making it three league wins from three.
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