The Bedlington Terrier
18-01-2023, 10:11 AM
Clarets v Baggies Match Preview.
Turf Moor, Burnley, BB10 4BX.
Kick-off – 20.00. Friday, 20th January 2023.
This is a football match between two mightily in-form football teams, and something must give on Friday night. Vincent Kompany’s Burnley currently lead the Championship with 59 points having lost just two games all season. Since Carlos Corberan took over from Steve Bruce the Baggies have decided to join the hunt for promotion to the English Premier League.
Corberan's in-form side made it 10 wins in 12 games in all competitions following a 4-0 FA Cup replay thrashing of non-league Chesterfield on Tuesday night. Burnley are unbeaten since they were well beaten at Bramhall Lane by second in the table Sheffield United. The Baggies have an awful lot of ground to make up on Burnley after a disastrous start to the new season and are currently 18 points behind the Clarets. It is obvious the West Midlands outfit will be going all out to cut that deficit on Friday evening.
At this juncture in the Championship season suspensions and injuries inevitably take their toll, Burnley will be without the suspended Jack Cork and the injured Taylor Harwood- Bellis. West Bromwich Albion will be missing the suspended Brandon Thomas-Assante and Karlan Grant, Matt Phillips, Kyle Bartley, Kean Bryan and Kenny Zohore are major doubts for Corberan. It was Thomas-Assante who netted a last gasp equaliser in the reverse fixture earning the Baggies a 1-1 draw.
Vincent Kompany’s pre-season strategy of assembling a large enough squad to cope with the rigours of the Championship looks to be paying off because he still has a strong squad at his disposal. The squad was bolstered last week with the arrival of centre-back Ameen Al-Dakhil, it remains to be seen if the new addition is ready to be chucked into the deep end of an important Championship game.
One’s to watch: Jed Wallace who was linked with the Clarets back in July and the dangerous John Swift pose a dangerous threat, but the injury depleted Baggies attack may offer Burnley a route to victory.
For the Clarets, at the risk of sounding repetitive the energetic Burnley right winger Manuel Benson is playing with supreme confidence at present, while left winger Annas Zaroury has unquestionably found his goalscoring boots at Turf Moor. Nathan Tella, Jay Rodriguez and veteran striker Ashley Barnes are all capable of contributing goals for the Clarets and goals are coming from across the Burnley team. On loan centre-back Jordan Beyer opened his account in the 1-0 home win against Coventry city last weekend.
Verdict: I expect a hard fought “no quarters given or asked for” encounter with home advantage perhaps the most telling factor. The Baggies suffered a hard game mid-week against Chesterfield and a debilitating injury list may well stack the odds in Burnley’s favour. I’m going for a 3-1 home win.
Footnote: It is worth a mention that way back in 1888 when the Football League was founded, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion were numbered amongst the original twelve teams who kicked the whole shebang off. I would not be at all adverse to both teams finding their way back into football’s elite come the end of May 2023.
From: The Editor’s Chair – Clarets Mad.
23260
Turf Moor, Burnley, BB10 4BX.
Kick-off – 20.00. Friday, 20th January 2023.
This is a football match between two mightily in-form football teams, and something must give on Friday night. Vincent Kompany’s Burnley currently lead the Championship with 59 points having lost just two games all season. Since Carlos Corberan took over from Steve Bruce the Baggies have decided to join the hunt for promotion to the English Premier League.
Corberan's in-form side made it 10 wins in 12 games in all competitions following a 4-0 FA Cup replay thrashing of non-league Chesterfield on Tuesday night. Burnley are unbeaten since they were well beaten at Bramhall Lane by second in the table Sheffield United. The Baggies have an awful lot of ground to make up on Burnley after a disastrous start to the new season and are currently 18 points behind the Clarets. It is obvious the West Midlands outfit will be going all out to cut that deficit on Friday evening.
At this juncture in the Championship season suspensions and injuries inevitably take their toll, Burnley will be without the suspended Jack Cork and the injured Taylor Harwood- Bellis. West Bromwich Albion will be missing the suspended Brandon Thomas-Assante and Karlan Grant, Matt Phillips, Kyle Bartley, Kean Bryan and Kenny Zohore are major doubts for Corberan. It was Thomas-Assante who netted a last gasp equaliser in the reverse fixture earning the Baggies a 1-1 draw.
Vincent Kompany’s pre-season strategy of assembling a large enough squad to cope with the rigours of the Championship looks to be paying off because he still has a strong squad at his disposal. The squad was bolstered last week with the arrival of centre-back Ameen Al-Dakhil, it remains to be seen if the new addition is ready to be chucked into the deep end of an important Championship game.
One’s to watch: Jed Wallace who was linked with the Clarets back in July and the dangerous John Swift pose a dangerous threat, but the injury depleted Baggies attack may offer Burnley a route to victory.
For the Clarets, at the risk of sounding repetitive the energetic Burnley right winger Manuel Benson is playing with supreme confidence at present, while left winger Annas Zaroury has unquestionably found his goalscoring boots at Turf Moor. Nathan Tella, Jay Rodriguez and veteran striker Ashley Barnes are all capable of contributing goals for the Clarets and goals are coming from across the Burnley team. On loan centre-back Jordan Beyer opened his account in the 1-0 home win against Coventry city last weekend.
Verdict: I expect a hard fought “no quarters given or asked for” encounter with home advantage perhaps the most telling factor. The Baggies suffered a hard game mid-week against Chesterfield and a debilitating injury list may well stack the odds in Burnley’s favour. I’m going for a 3-1 home win.
Footnote: It is worth a mention that way back in 1888 when the Football League was founded, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion were numbered amongst the original twelve teams who kicked the whole shebang off. I would not be at all adverse to both teams finding their way back into football’s elite come the end of May 2023.
From: The Editor’s Chair – Clarets Mad.
23260