Southampton v Burnley Betting Tips – Premier League, 12th August 1.30pm
The Saints had a season to forget last term as they were struggling along at the wrong end of the table and nothing much has happened over the summer to go and change that this season. This is a tricky opener for them at St Mary’s as Burnley will have a slight edge over them in terms of match sharpness. The Clarets have already played three competitive games in their Europa League qualification campaign.
Southampton News and Form
After finishing just above the relegation zone last season, you would have thought that Southampton would be keen to get to the summer and freshen things up. They haven’t really done all that much, to be honest. It was a poor return from them overall last season and they are sticking with Mark Hughes, who didn’t really change their fortunes after coming in to ensure that they stayed afloat. The fixture list at the start of the season does look fairly kind to them so they are going to have to come out strongly. All that they have done in the transfer market is bring in keeper Angus Gunn and defender Jannik Vestergaard. That’s no real great step forward for them and we can only look under 1.5 goals at 7/4 odds* (Betting Odds were taken on March 20th, 2018 at 00:22 p.m.). It’s hard to see the goals flying around in this one.
Southampton’s last three games of the 2017/18 season all finished under 2.5 goals and five of their last six against Burnley in all competitions have gone that way. The Saints didn’t even make it to an average of a goal per home game last season they were that poor going forward. To address that they spent big on Mohamed Elyounoussi to come into the left side while getting Danny Ings from Liverpool on loan. Starting at home the pressure will be on the Saints and they are facing a well drilled Burnley defence. The positive is, is that Hughes doesn’t have any issues over fitness or injury in his squad. Bad news is that they have failed to win all but one of their last eleven Premier League home games.
Burnley News and Form
Burnley are further along than the Saints are in terms of match fitness as they have been through some Europa League qualification matches. On Thursday they had a tough trip to Israel to face Istanbul Basaksehir and they came out with a 0-0 draw. In the game, they gave Joe Hart his club debut and he looked pretty bright and solid in his performance. Boss Sean Dyche is going to have to start with his balancing act them, perhaps changing the starting eleven to the one that played on Thursday night to keep things fresh. For example, they didn’t use record signing Ben Gibson on Thursday and neither did striker Matej Vydra who looks as if he could be a great capture for the Clarets. In the bet365 correct score market a Burnley 1-0 is at 10/1 odds* (Betting Odds were taken on March 20th, 2018 at 00:22 p.m.) and it’s hard to see them getting a win any other way.
The Clarets didn’t win any of their final five games of last season’s Premier League campaign as they ran out of steam a little bit. Surprisingly there was over 2.5 goals scored in eight of Burnley’s final ten games. But we expect them to be a lot tighter than that against a not particularly threatening Southampton side. Burnley did concede a goal in both legs of their Europa League tie against Aberdeen but they looked so much stronger and more like themselves on Thursday out in Israel. The Clarets collected a W7 D7 L5 record away from Turf Moor in the top flight last season, part of the reason why they got that great seventh-place finish. They only just barely finished with above an average of a goal per game away from home though.
Southampton v Burnley Head to Head
Not too surprisingly the meetings in the top flight between Southampton and Burnley last season were low-scoring affairs. Burley came out on top though with four points from the two games though, getting the win at St Marys. The Clarets are unbeaten (W2D1) in their last three Premier League games against the Saints but they have lost two of their three previous Premier League trips to the south coast. Five of the six previous meetings in the Premier League ended under 2.5 goals.
Southampton v Burnley Betting Odds*
Southampton 5/6
Draw 13/5
Burnley 4/1
* (Betting Odds were taken on March 20th, 2018 at 00:22 p.m.)
Southampton v Burnley Predictions
Burnley to win: Just because Southampton look to have stagnated we are going with Burnley to bag three points here. They have had those games under their belt already this season which helps in terms of match sharpness. We can see the visitors sneaking this and a Burnley to win & under 2.5 goals option looks a strong prediction for the Southampton v Burnley match up.
