Saturday 20th January 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Burnley v Manchester United Football – England – Premier League Burnley have been the surprise package of the Premier League season thus far as they continue to hang around in seventh spot, just five points behind Arsenal after 23 games. That in itself is pretty incredible when you contrast the two clubs but it’s been achieved on merit. Sean Dyche will be hoping his team can hang around a little longer by taking another positive result against Manchester United, whom they drew 2-2 with on Boxing Day. For United it’s all about continuing some recent momentum that’s been gained over the last couple of weeks by taking another three points and putting (albeit limited) pressure on Manchester City.
Burnley are operating on one of the smallest, if not the smallest, budgets in the Premier League which makes their current position all that more remarkable. The constant speculation has been around whether or not they would be able to sustain their efforts but as we’re now closing in on the final third of the season, those doubts may yet be unfounded. The real difference between this season and last is that Burnley have been able to balance out their points both home and away. The Clarets relied heavily on their home performances to keep their heads above water in the previous campaign and whether it’s by accident or design, they have managed to pick up a lot more points on their travels this season. Coming into Saturday’s game with United at Turf Moore, Burnley have amassed 17 points at home and the exact same number away from home. That will be something they hope changes somewhat come full time this weekend and if that is the case, they’ll have went unbeaten against United over their two meetings this season.
With Manchester City looking all but certainties to win the Premier League this season, it’s been difficult for Jose Mourinho and Manchester United as many predicted the title race would be a dual between themselves and City. It’s never materialised that way and although United have made a strong showing in comparative terms to recent campaigns, they have barely laid a glove on the other half of their city. There has been some room for optimism in the last couple of weeks as the Old Trafford club are now in pole position to snatch Alexis Sanchez from under the noses of the league leaders whilst they were also able to narrow the gap at the top to 12 points following last weekend’s results. That’s still not good enough for the United faithful or for their manager, but it’s the first time in a long time that the gap has been reduced to a dozen. They’ve now won three games in a row in all competitions and have only managed to win four in a row on two occasions this season. They have the opportunity to do that for a third time and the previous away outing at Everton on New Year’s Day will give them confidence ahead of travelling to another difficult away venue.
Burnley v Manchester United Betting Tip
The meeting between these two on Boxing Day was full of entertainment and goals as Burnley gave their hosts a very big scare. The Clarets raced into a two goal lead in the first half and looked set to inflict a shock home defeat on United, only for two Jesse Lingaard goals to ruin their hopes – very late on as well. Mourinho was coming under pressure at that stage as it was during a spell where his team were dropping points regularly. That seems a long time ago even though there has not been all that much football played in between. The suggestion is that the United manager is going to sign a contract extension suggesting he is here for the long haul in a bid to wrestle the title back to Old Trafford for the first time since 2013. Title challenges are not the order of the day for Burnley but they will be delighted with how their season is going and having already given their opponents a scare just under a month ago, they will be confident of delivering another big performance.
I mentioned above that there were some doubts as to how long this Burnley run could last and there has been some suggestion recently that they are beginning to run out of steam. Their last win came in the middle of December and since that they have drawn three and lost three, one of which was in the FA Cup. They’ve also struggled to get anything from the bigger teams at home, with Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool all having won at Turf Moor since the end of November. That can take it’s toll on a team and with United arriving in buoyant mood on the back of two really good performances in the league, I think they’re up against it to get anything from this one either. Unbeaten in their last five away games in the league – winning four of them – United can take another three points and cut the gap to nine ahead of City playing on Saturday evening.
Manchester United 4/7 @ Coral
