Preview: Bradford City vs Burnley - prediction, team news, lineups

Bradford City play host to Championship giants Burnley in the EFL Cup second round on Wednesday night.

While the Bantams breezed past Rochdale in their opening tie of the competition, the Clarets required penalties to see off Notts County.

Match preview

Having been presented with a double-header of West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion, new Burnley boss Nicky Hayen would have acknowledged the difficulty of his start to life in English football.

However, he would have expected better than a one-point return, a draw that was earned through a late two-goal comeback versus the Hammers.

Sunday's trip to The Hawthorns represented a chance to get maximum points on the board, and Callum Styles's early own goal put Burnley in control.

Nevertheless, West Brom, who are growing in confidence under James Morrison, responded to post a deserved 3-1 success, leaving Hayen with much to ponder.

Failure to overcome the Baggies extended Burnley's wait for a competitive away win, their last such triumph coming on February 11 against Crystal Palace.

At a time when Burnley have conceded six goals across three matches, Bradford have kept three successive clean sheets.

Despite the level of opposition being far inferior, Graham Alexander will be delighted with shutouts in wins over Rochdale, Peterborough United and Sheffield Wednesday.

Although Alexander would have wanted to see his team net more than five times, that is a minor negative with Bradford showcasing their League One promotion credentials during the early weeks.

This is the first competitive encounter between the clubs since 2003-24, when Burnley posted a 2-1 victory at Valley Parade in the second tier of English football.

Bradford City EFL Cup form:

Bradford City form (all competitions):

Burnley EFL Cup form:

Burnley form (all competitions):

Team News

Although a trip to Plymouth Argyle is to follow later in the week, Bradford's last outing came on Thursday, and that may only encourage Alexander to keep rotation down to a few changes.

Henry Cartwright and Adam Phillips may be given starts in central-midfield, while Will Swan could get the nod over Jake Beesley in attack.

Despite the positive impact that he has made at the start of this campaign, Nick Powell is expected to remain on the substitutes' bench.

Ugo Raghouber, Zeki Amdouni and Chelsea loanee Dastan Satpaev are all in line to earn starts for Burnley.

Anel Ahmedhodzic, for his debut, and Joe Worrall may feature in central defence, while Lucas Pires and Mike Tresor could start down the left.

Hayen must also decide whether to take a risk on the fitness of Connor Roberts, who returned from a minor fitness issue to play 45 minutes against West Brom.

Bradford City possible starting lineup:

Dawson; Pennington, Baldwin, Gillesphey; Neufville, Cartwright, Phillips, Touray; Lapslie, Pointon; Swan

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Coudert; Sonne, Ahmedhodzic, Worrall, Pires; Laurent, Raghouber; Amdouni, Ramsey, Tresor; Satpaev

We say: Bradford City 1-2 Burnley

With Hayen increasingly desperate to get a win on the board, a stronger team than was perhaps initially anticipated could be selected here. Therefore, we can only predict a victory for Burnley, albeit in a highly-competitive match that may be decided in the closing stages.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.