Burnley v Southampton Betting Tip Under 2.5 goals – 2 February 2019

Burnley v Southampton
Saturday 2nd February 1500hrs 
Football – England – Premier League
Pick Under 2.5 goals
Bookmaker: Marathon Bet
Odds: 21/25 (odds taken 18.30 GMT, Friday 1^st February)

Two goals separate these clubs at the bottom end of the table so it goes without saying how vital three points would be in their respective bids for survival. Burnley face Southampton at Turf Moor and we have you covered for a preview of the game and best betting advice.

Premier League Betting at Marathon Bet

Burnley Preview

Burnley were always going to struggle to hit the heights of last season where they finished seventh as they exceeded expectations, which was never going to be sustainable. Combine that with an earlier start to their campaign because of European qualifiers and it was bound to stretch one of the smaller squads in the Premier League. That’s exactly the way it’s played out for Sean Dyche but they have shown some recovery in the past month that will give them some hope of surviving. An unbeaten run of five matches has lifted the Clarets out of the relegation zone and four points clear of third bottom Cardiff City. That run has included wins over West Ham, Huddersfield and Fulham, before consecutive draws away to Watford and Manchester United. Whilst that represents a significant improvement on all previous form this season, it could have been even better had Burnley been able to hold on to their two-goal lead at Old Trafford on Tuesday. If you had offered the Dyche a draw before the game he would have taken it all day long but the circumstances as to how that occurred would have disappointed the manager as his team conceded two goals in the last five minutes, surrendering two points. That’s the difference of four positions in the cluttered bottom half of the table.

Southampton Preview

Ralph Hasenhuttl was brought in by Southampton to replace Mark Hughes with one simple objective – keep the club in the Premier League. The Saints were in the relegation zone when the former RB Leipzig boss took over and he has begun to achieve his objective by getting them out the bottom three and the challenge now is to avoid going back in for the remainder of the season. 2019 has started particularly well for him and Southampton, in league terms anyway. They’re yet to taste defeat since the turn of the year and have defeated both Everton and Leicester, whilst sharing the points with Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Hassenhuttl may well look back on the draw with Palace in midweek as an opportunity lost considering it was a home match against another team involved in the battle to avoid the drop but having trailed until the latter stages it could also be seen as a point gained. Perhaps somewhat surprising due to a new coach having just arrived at the club, Southampton were very quiet in the January transfer window with the new man keener to offload players rather than bring anybody in – suggesting he has full trust and confidence in the squad at his disposal.

Burnley v Southampton Betting Advice

Although this is a battle between the two teams immediately outside the bottom three, it’s also a fixture comprising two teams in relatively good from – at least by the standards of the bottom half of the table. There’s a little extra intrigue as well with Burnley obtaining Peter Crouch until the end of the season which could see the much-travelled striker face one of his previous clubs. He could yet play an important role in keeping Burnley safe.

Having won only one of their first seven league games at Turf Moor this season, Burnley have won three of their last four so they approach Saturday’s game with a lot of confidence and were excellent for long parts of the draw away to United. Their weekend opponents have been good on their travels under their new coach, though, and have won two and drawn one of their last three. The league table suggests there’s little between these two clubs and I think that’s a good pointer to this being a close encounter. Neither team are prolific (both average around a goal a game) and the trend in this fixture (nine of the last 11 head-to-heads) have had two or fewer goals so under 2.5 appeals at Turf Moor.