Clarets Mad - Clarets v Wolves, English Premier League Match Preview.
Venue: Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley, BB10 4BX.
Kick-off – 19.45 – 2nd April 2024.
Sinkov who is a regular contributor on Clarets Mad posted on Sunday morning post Chelsea match; “I suspect it was yesterday, for the first time ever we started a game without a single English player on the field. I will stand corrected if it's happened before, but I can't think that it has”. I checked it out, it has not. The Dyche era is finally over at Turf Moor and what a great pub quiz question it will make in the years to come.
Burnley’s Foreign Legion will take on the very inconsistent Wolverhampton Wanderers team on Tuesday night in what is a massive game for a newly red-carded Vincent Kompany’s Clarets. Burnley will be able to select the Claret fans’ new cult-hero Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana, who should return to the Burnley starting line-up.
The multi-million-dollar question for the side-lined through suspension Burnley gaffer is who will start alongside Fofana? Lyle Foster was largely anonymous at Stamford Bridge, Zeki Amdouni and the venerable Jay Rod Rodriguez are both pressing for a start in tandem with Fofana. Wilson Odobert continued his impressive form against the Blues; what a talent Vincent Kompany has uncovered in this young French footballing wizard. It’s a joy to watch him play.
I mentioned prior to the Chelsea game Burnley’s talismanic Norwegian midfielder Sander Berge has hit form at exactly the right time and in tandem with Eire’s Josh Cullen, Burnley have rediscovered the art of midfield competitiveness. The pair were terrific again on Saturday, making a mockery of Chelsea’s expensively assembled midfield.
Cullen is consistently returning man-of-the match performances, scoring an exquisite early second half equaliser at The Bridge on Saturday. One cloud from Saturday was an injury to Aro Muric, let’s hope he is fit to continue his impressive return to the Claret’s fold tomorrow night.
One’s to watch: As the season edges toward its climax there are the unavoidable injury absences, with the possible exception of Muric, Burnley have no new injury concerns to report but the Wolves are very depleted at the moment; Pedro Neto and Hwang-Hee Chan are both out for weeks, and one time Clarets' target Craig Dawson is still not fit to play.
Verdict: The sense of togetherness from the Burnley squad was plain for all to see at Chelsea on Saturday. Twice the Clarets came back from the dead, refusing to buckle to dreadful match officiating and could and perhaps should have returned to Turf Moor with all three points. Rodriguez smacking a last gasp header against the crossbar and unable to convert the rebound was an unfortunate end to what was a great Burnley team performance.
Footnote: The standard of match officiating and VAR was once again the main talking point emanating from a Burnley game. Vincent Kompany was sent to the stands for a perfectly excusable fuse blowing remonstration that earned him another red card following a ridiculous penalty decision by the hapless Darren England.
Let’s hope this lot can manage this crucial encounter between the Clarets and the Wolves better than Saturday’s motley collection managed on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Referee: Tom Bramall. Assistants: Mat Wilkes, Adrian Holmes. Fourth official: Matt Donohue. VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton.
Whatever the outcome of Tuesday's match, if you are attending - enjoy the game. (TEC).
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