Clarets v Cherries Match Preview.
Clarets Mad - Clarets v Cherries, English Premier League Match Preview.
Venue: Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley, BB10 4BX.
Kick-off – 13.00 – Sunday 3rd March 2024.
My mum’s favourite ever tune was sung by her hip shaking heartthrob Elvis the Pelvis. Why am I telling you this? Because on Sunday her favourite Elvis lyrics “It’s Now or Never - three points won’t wait” must be the Clarets signature tune when the ball rolls at one o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
This is another and probably the Clarets’ last “must win game” of this season. Should Burnley lose against Bournemouth on Sunday following a long line of recent “must win games,” Burnley will have almost certainly run out of time and games to avoid relegation back to the Championship.
Most of the Clarets’ faithful are losing all hope on retaining their place in the EPL but on the bright side for the beleaguered Burnley manager and his staff the Burnley Football Club Board of Directors are refusing to hit the panic button and still insist Vincent Kompany is safe in his job.
The Cherries managed by Andoni Iraola are heading towards Premier League safety with 28 points accrued from 25 games, 12 points clear of Burnley’s 13 points accumulated from 26 games played. The mathematics are clearly starting to add up not very favourably for Vincent Kompany’s Clarets.
One’s to watch: It might be the understatement of the season to claim that Burnley are finding goals very hard to come by. Amdouni, Fofana and Odobert have goals in their lockers and the Clarets need to find goal-scoring opportunities from somewhere. Hopefully a goal or two will come along to help revive the Clarets fortunes.
For the Cherries their top scorer Dominic Solanke is described as “doubtful,” which might go a long way to helping the Clarets’ chances of taking much-needed points from the game.
Verdict: Burnley have stuck with their manager, and under his guidance the Clarets have signed a lot of young talent who play in the Kompany style of play. But even three points on Sunday might not be enough to kick-start a relegation fight strong enough to stave off relegation. The Clarets may go down and come back up and could well be all the stronger for it. I’m going for a 2-2 draw.
Footnote: The news this week that the farcical EPL executive decision to first off deduct Everton ten points for breach of FFP rules and then give them four points back will go a long way to see Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town make an immediate return to the Championship.
Fans of Everton nor last season’s three promoted teams do not deserve this sort of nonsense. Along with the vagaries of VAR and the inconsistent goings-on from the PGMOL, I for one will not be sorry to see the back of the English Premier League.
Whatever the outcome, enjoy the game. (TEC).
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