Preview: Burnley vs Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

Burnley welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon with both bottom-half sides under pressure to pick up points in the Premier League.

The two teams meet for the first time since the opening weekend of the season in August when Spurs claimed a 3-0 victory in Thomas Frank’s first competitive home game in charge.

Match preview

Since beating basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 at the end of October, Burnley have failed to win any of their last 13 Premier League games (D4 L9) and remain in danger of dropping straight back down to the Championship. However, there have been marginal signs of improvement in recent weeks.

Indeed, the Clarets thrashed Championship promotion hopefuls Millwall by a 5-1 scoreline in the FA Cup third round, in between two score draws with Manchester United (2-2) and Liverpool (1-1) in the top flight, rescuing a point against the latter at Anfield last weekend.

The bottom six Premier League teams all avoided defeat last time out, including Scott Parker’s side who remain 19th in the table and eight points adrift of safety with 16 games remaining, with three of their next four against fellow bottom-half teams.

Burnley, the joint-lowest goalscorers at home in the Premier League this season (10), head into Saturday’s clash with Tottenham having lost six of their last seven top-flight meetings with the Lilywhites, including each of the last four in a row since a 1-0 home victory in February 2022.

Should the Clarets fail to claim maximum points against Spurs, they will register their longest winless run in the top flight since August to October back in 1970 (14) and their longest in the league overall since an 18-game winless streak in the Championship between December 2006 and March 2007.

Under-pressure Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank received a much-needed boost on Tuesday night, as his Spurs side secured an important 2-0 home victory over 10-man Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, ending a five-match winless streak in all competitions.

Automatic last-16 qualification is in Tottenham’s hands when they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt next week for their final League Phase fixture, but they must first shift their focus back to the Premier League as they endeavour to climb from 14th spot and reduce the eight-point gap to the top five.

Frank’s side have only won two of their last 13 Premier League matches, losing 2-1 at home to London rivals West Ham United last weekend, and only two top-flight teams have accumulated fewer points than Spurs (nine) across 11 home games this term. However, their form on the road is significantly better.

Indeed, only league leaders and North London rivals Arsenal (21) have earned more away points than Spurs (18), who have picked up 67% of their Premier League points on their travels this season, the highest share in the division. Meanwhile, only Chelsea and Bournemouth (both 19) have scored more away goals than Frank’s men this term (18).

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 13 PL away games against promoted teams (W11 D2) since a 3-1 defeat at Leeds United in May 2021, and they average 2.2 goals-per-game in the top flight against Saturday’s opponents Burnley (41 goals in 19 games), only averaging more against Hull City among teams they have faced 10+ times (2.3). However, Spurs have lost four of their last eight league matches against teams in the relegation zone (W3 D1).

Burnley Premier League form:

Burnley form (all competitions):

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Team News

Burnley captain Josh Cullen recently sustained an ACL injury and is joined on the sidelines by Jordan Beyer (thigh), Zeki Amdouni (knee), Connor Roberts (Achilles) and Mike Tresor (ankle), while Zian Flemming and Joe Worrall will both have knocks assessed ahead of kickoff.

Marcus Edwards scored his first PL goal in the draw with Liverpool last time out. The former Tottenham academy starlet is likely to be rewarded with another start this weekend and will be looking to score in consecutive league appearances for the first time since May/August 2022 while at Sporting Lisbon.

In the absence of Cullen, Lesley Ugochukwu and Florentino Luis are expected to link arms in centre-midfield, while ex-Spurs man Kyle Walker and Lucas Pires could continue as wing-backs. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka - who made eight saves against Liverpool and has made a division-high 85 saves in total this season - is set to start again between the sticks.

As for Tottenham, Lucas Bergvall is facing another spell on the sidelines after sustaining an ankle injury in midweek, while Ben Davies (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison (both knee), Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison (all thigh) are also ruled out.

Joao Palhinha (knock) and Pape Sarr (illness) will both be assessed ahead of kickoff, while Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Mathys Tel and January signing Conor Gallagher are all available to return after missing the win over Dortmund.

Van de Ven and Gallagher are expected to be handed starts at centre-back and in centre-midfield respectively, while Wilson Odobert could continue on the right flank against his former club Burnley, with Tel and Randal Kolo Muani set to battle for a start on the left side of attack.

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Tuanzebe, Esteve, Humphreys; Walker, Ugochukwu, Florentino, Pires; Edwards, Anthony; Broja

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Gray, Gallagher; Odobert, Simons, Tel; Solanke

We say: Burnley 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Burnley’s recent results against Man United and Liverpool should provide them with a real confidence boost ahead of this weekend’s fixture, but Tottenham will still be regarded as favourites considering their strong away form and recent record against the Clarets.

Parker’s side have scored in six of their last eight league games and will back themselves to make the net ripple against a leaky Spurs defence that has kept just three clean sheets in their last 13 top-flight matches. However, the visitors may just have enough to outscore their opponents en route to claiming three valuable points.

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