Burnley vs. Newcastle United
Venue: Turf Moor
Kick off: 12PM
Newcastle United travel to Turf Moor where they will face Burnley in the Premier League at lunchtime, with the fight for top-flight survival approaching crunch point.
The Clarets won 1-0 in their last home league game against the visitors, but the Magpies recorded a 3-1 victory at St James’s Park in the reverse fixture earlier this campaign.
Burnley still have work to do if they are to ensure their Premier League status for a fifth successive season after they lost 3-2 away at Southampton last weekend.
The Clarets raced into a two-goal lead after just 28 minutes when a converted penalty from Chris Wood was followed by a sweet strike from Matej Vydra, but Sean Dyche’s side were unable to hold onto their lead and conceded twice before half time.
Nathan Redmond’s strike in the 66th minute proved to be the winner and leaves Burnley in 15th place, seven points clear of the relegation zone with eight matches left to play.
Burnley head into today’s match winless in their last six Premier League games at Turf Moor, drawing their last five in succession – they have not drawn six consecutive home league matches since April 1936 in the second tier.
The Clarets have struggled to score goals throughout this campaign – with only basement club Sheffield United scoring fewer – but since Dyche has started both Wood and Vydra up front together, Burnley have found the net in each of their last four matches, scoring six goals with five of those strikes coming from either forward.
The attacking duo will be looking to take advantage of the Magpies weakened defence on Sunday, and a victory could see Dyche’s team climb as high as 13th in the table, 10 points clear of the bottom three and easing any potential fears of demotion to the Championship.
Since December 16, a run of just two wins from their last 19 Premier League matches has plunged Newcastle deep into relegation trouble.
Manager Steve Bruce insists that team spirit remains strong in and around the camp, after seeing his side fight back to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Joelinton’s first goal since November was quickly cancelled out with a brace from Harry Kane, but Arsenal loanee Joe Willock smashed the ball into the back of the net five minutes from time to earn the Magpies their fourth draw in five matches.
Newcastle briefly dropped into the bottom three when Fulham took the lead at Aston Villa, but they now sit three points above the Cottagers in 18th place, who have played two games more.
Burnley possible XI: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Westwood, McNeil, Vydra, Wood.
Newcastle possible XI: Dubravka, Manquillo, Fernandez, Clark, Lewis, Shelvey, Longstaff, Saint-Maximin, Willock, Almiron, Wilson.