Tense Times At Turf Moor Once Again
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After a run of eight Premier League games unbeaten, it looked as if Burnley were going to be able to put enough daylight between themselves and the bottom three, while in turn making the end of the season something of a relaxed affair.
Unfortunately, there is an air of tension circling around Turf Moor at present and after four successive league losses, the Clarets are now looking back over their shoulders and again find themselves in the midst of a relegation fight.
After such an impressive season last time around – one that saw them gain entry to the Europa League at the start of this campaign, it is almost those brief European exploits that proved to be their undoing.
With such a small squad it was clearly apparent that they could not deal with the additional front that a burgeoning Europa League campaign would demand and as a consequence their early season form was poor to say the least.
Therefore, it is almost as if Burnley’s points tally is one that has only been accrued with half a season’s work and in effect they are having to play catch up after such a relatively poor start to proceedings this time around.
Admittedly the Lancashire outfit were not helped by the absence of both Tom Heaton and Nick Pope through injury and although Joe Hart’s arrival to the club came with promise, he has not been able to have a positive effect on matters.
Therefore, it comes as no coincidence that Burnley started to see an upturn in form when Heaton returned from injury and his appearances between the sticks played a huge part in he and his teammates going on that aforementioned eight match unbeaten streak.
The highlight of that eight match streak was the impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham at Turf Moor - one that saw the North Londoners hopes of winning this season’s Premier League all but come to a crashing end.
Since then, Burnley have failed to put a single additional point on the board and with the likes of Newcastle and Crystal Palace timing their bids for survival almost perfectly, it means there is very little protection to between themselves and the drop zone.
Going into the international break, Sean Dyche’s men find themselves two points clear of fellow strugglers Cardiff in 17th and it looks like it is going to be a three team tussle between these two and Southampton to see who occupies the last of the relegation places.
Southampton boosted their survival hopes with a win over Tottenham and they now have a hint of momentum behind them - something that Burnley are lacking at present and with the international break upon us, Sean Dyche will use this is as a period of reflection and galvanisation.
A back to basics approach was one that worked for Burnley when they went eight games unbeaten, but now it seems that they have run out of ideas. If they can’t find something that works and soon, they could be staring a return to the EFL Championship square in the face.
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