Burnley FC
Aston Villa FC
Aston Villa FC
Improved Burnley take on impressive Aston Villa in a tight-looking midweek clash
Burnley 1-1 Aston Villa
Burnley have shown much-improved form of late to both lift themselves clear of the relegation zone and continue their progress to the final 16 of the FA Cup.
Following up on a terrific win over Liverpool at Anfield in their last Premier League fixture, they comfortably overcame Fulham in the cup at the weekend, adding to the growing confidence currently surrounding the team.
They are now very much the Burnley that we are used to seeing from seasons gone by – tough, efficient and a side no one wants to play away from home.
Aston Villa are themselves one of the most improved teams in the league this season. They have two matches in hand and, should they win them both, will overtake Liverpool into 4th place. They ran out 2-0 winners over Newcastle at the weekend, but will find it much tougher at Turf Moor this weekend.
Form Guide (all comps): WLLWW
Reasons to be cheerful:
Strong wins in the league and cup will do wonders for confidence
Cup match gave the opportunity to rest key players
Reasons to be fearful:
Only five goals scored at home this season
Villa look sharp since returning to action
So, it was Burnley who finally broke Liverpool at home. An unbeaten record that stood for almost four years and 68 matches ended as Burnley secured a 1-0 victory last week.
To then follow this up with an impressive 3-0 win over Fulham in the FA Cup shows just how far Burnley have come since the end of October when they sat bottom of the league after five defeats from six.
Now, they’re a real unit again, with the solid base of Tarkowski and Mee looking formidable at the back.
Sean Dyche will know that his side must score more goals at home, with only five coming from their eight games so far. However, when their defence is as solid as it appears right now, their last three defeats only coming by a single goal, there is cause for optimism around the club.
Star Man – Jay Rodriguez
Has perhaps worked his way into his manager’s plan by scoring a fine double over Fulham at the weekend.
Form Guide (all comps): DLLLW
Reasons to be cheerful:
Ollie Watkins ended his nine-match run without scoring at the weekend
Manager Dean Smith will return to the touchline after suspension
Reasons to be fearful:
Have lost three of their last four matches
Burnley are fierce competitors at Turf Moor
Aston Villa are once again looking up the table at teams they could overtake with their two games in hand, after returning to winning ways against Newcastle.
This will not be an easy fixture for Villa, who have lost three out of their last four games in all competitions. Burnley’s confidence will be sky-high after beating Liverpool last week and will sense their own opportunity to move further up the league.
Villa are certainly better at the top end of the pitch than Burnley. They’ve scored over three times as many goals as their opponents this season, with top scorer Ollie Watkins ending his nine-match goal drought at the weekend.
If they can find a way past Burnley here, it’ll set them up perfectly for a challenging run of fixtures against Southampton, West Ham and Arsenal.
Star Man – Jack Grealish
The maverick playmaker has his work cut out trying to break down Burnley’s tough defence, but it’s a challenge he’ll relish.
A tight game with even possession
Likely to be a low scoring tie
Will be a game of few chances
If there is to be a winner between these sides, it’s likely to be by the odd goal.
The match between them earlier in the season finished 0-0 in a game of few chances, and that is likely to remain the same here, although Burnley have certainly improved since then.
A point would be better for Burnley than Villa, the latter hoping to win their games in hand, though they may have to settle for a draw here.
Burnley 1-1 Aston Villa
