While the teams around them seek progress in the FA Cup, Burnley and Watford prepare to lock horns in a Premier League basement battle at Turf Moor on Saturday evening.
This fixture has already been postponed twice due to COVID-19, allowing both teams the chance to bolster their ranks in January in their fights to avoid the drop.
Match preview
© Reuters
Forever maintaining their reputation as an incredibly physical outfit, the acquisition of 6ft 5in striker Wout Weghorst has only added a new dimension to Burnley's prowess in that area, with the Clarets' media team earning extra plaudits for their Jurassic Park-themed announcement video.
Bringing Bundesliga and international goalscoring experience to Turf Moor, Weghorst will endeavour to come out head and shoulders above the rest - in more ways than one - and a sense of attacking inspiration cannot come soon enough for Burnley.
Sean Dyche's side did impressively hold top-four chasing Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium before the international break - although the Gunners' lack of ruthlessness had something to do with that - and the Clarets remain bottom of the pile with 12 points to their name.
Of course, Burnley have been impacted enormously by the surge in COVID-19 cases and will clamber their way to safety should they win all their games in hand, but that 3-1 success over Brentford in October still represents their only top-flight win of the season.
Dyche's side welcome Watford to Turf Moor aiming to avoid a 10th game in a row without victory in all competitions, but a four-game unbeaten Premier League run on home soil will serve to increase the confidence before the Hornets' visit, as well as conceding just eight league goals at Turf Moor so far.
© Reuters
Following yet another early dismissal at Watford, with Premier League winner Claudio Ranieri failing to drag the Hornets away from the danger of demotion, 74-year-old Roy Hodgson has returned to become the next brave soul to handle the poisoned chalice.
A humiliating 3-0 home defeat to fellow relegation rivals Norwich City proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Ranieri - who oversaw eight defeats and a draw from his last nine games in charge - although he will always have that 4-1 thumping of Manchester United to look back on fondly.
Now is not the time for sentimentality, though, as former Crystal Palace and England boss Hodgson takes over with the Hornets languishing in 19th place, although 17th-placed Norwich are only two points clear having played two games more.
Fixing this ever-leaky defence would be a good place to start for Hodgson, with Watford failing to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since February 2020, but their attacking prospects will also take a hit in the absence of suspended star striker Emmanuel Dennis.
Burnley did the double over Watford without conceding a goal in the 2019-20 Premier League season, and the Hornets have won just one of their last six against Dyche's men in the Premier League, although that did come at Turf Moor in August 2018.
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Burnley have lost midfielder Josh Brownhill to suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Arsenal, as Jack Cork and Dale Stephens fight it out to partner Ashley Westwood on Saturday.
Maxwel Cornet should be fine to feature after returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Charlie Taylor and Ashley Barnes will need assessing, but Matej Vydra has had a hernia operation and is out alongside Johann Berg Gudmundsson (appendicitis).
Dyche should not hesitate to throw Weghorst in for his full debut here, as Cornet returns to form an eye-catching front two for the Premier League's basement side.
Meanwhile, Watford will have to cope without eight-goal striker Dennis following his sending off against Norwich, while Kwadwo Baah, Nicolas Nkoulou and Peter Etebo will not recover from their injuries in time.
Ismaila Sarr is preparing for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, but William Troost-Ekong, Adam Masina and Imran Louza are all back at Hodgson's disposal for the trip to Turf Moor.
Ben Foster and Craig Cathcart will both aim to return from illness in time for this relegation six-pointer, but the former may struggle to displace Daniel Bachmann in between the posts.
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Roberts, Mee, Tarkowski, Taylor; Lennon, Westwood, Stephens, McNeil; Weghorst, Cornet
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Cathcart, Samir, Kamara; Sissoko, Kayembe, Cleverley; King, Pedro, Sema
We say: Burnley 1-0 Watford
Despite their standing at the bottom of the table, Burnley can boast the honour of being one of the best defensive sides at home this term, which ought to serve them well against a confidence-depleted Watford.
The travelling support will hope to see the new manager bounce in full swing for the Hornets, but a new-look frontline of Weghorst and Cornet can expect to aid Burnley's safety bid by contributing to a narrow victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Burnley win with a probability of 45.21%. A draw had a probability of 27.6% and a win for Watford had a probability of 27.24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Burnley win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.85%) and 2-1 (8.68%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.87%), while for a Watford win it was 0-1 (9.55%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
