The surprisingly well performing Burnley will play Stoke City in-house on Tuesday-evening. Not an easy match, but Burnley has nothing to fear and is self-confident.
Burnley :
Burnley is plagued by injuries this season. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton has been out for a long time and the same goes for Robbie Brady, who may have to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury. In spite of this, Burnley continues to perform well and is in seventh place for Burnley. After sixteen games, the counter already stands at 28 points and it seems that Burnley does not have to worry about any degradation.
Even without Robbie Brady and Tom Heaton, Burnley managed to win at home from Watford. The only goal of the game was made by Scott Arfield, the replacement for Robbie Brady. Dyche was very pleased with the game afterwards and praised the depth of his selection, but it must of course be mentioned that Watford played with a man less by a red card for Zeegelaar from the 39th minute. Against a man less, the already strong defense of Burnley remained relatively easy to maintain.
Burnley’s victory followed a disappointing defeat against Leicester City a week earlier. However, Burnley remains very difficult to beat in his own home. Although Burnley lost 0-1 from Arsenal unjustly two weeks ago, he won three of his last four games and did not have a counter goal in any of those three games. That strong defense is exactly where the strength of Burnley lies.
Stoke:
This season Stoke City does not really impress with Mark Hughes yet. The Potters are in a somewhat disappointing fifteenth place. Last year it was of course also a difficult year and that trend seems to be continued this season. Stoke managed to collect sixteen points after sixteen matches, and Stoke is only three points away from the relegation zone. This match can not actually be lost.
Last weekend Stoke got a huge beating from Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham is not necessarily at its best in Wembley, but Ryan Shawcross helped his opponent on his way by changing a ball so that it flew into his own goal. Twelve minutes later, it already was 3-0 and the game was already lost. Losing an away match against Tottenham is no shame, but the way is shameful and very bad for trust.
Stoke only won one of his last six games in the Premier League and went into three of his last four league games. In addition, Stoke knew only five points this season in eight away games. In those eight away games, Stoke got no less than twenty goals. When Stoke plays an away game then a big loss is certainly a possibility.
