Burnley vs Everton Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Burnley:
Peacock-Farrell, Lowton, Taylor, Tarkowski, Mee, McNeil, Westwood, Benson, Wood, Barnes, Rodriguez
Everton:
Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Allan, Doucoure, Rodriguez, Davies, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi
Burnley welcome Everton at lunchtime on Saturday at Turf Moor. The Clarets are 19th in the league standings after collecting only 5 points from the opening 9 matches. They have a match in hand, but the situation is very complicated. Last season Burnley finished as 10th and they were out of the relegation battle. Manager Sean Dyche is feeling a big pressure, as well as the players. Two weeks ago they finally obtained the first victory, beating Crystal Palace with 1:0. But last week they suffered a catastrophe losing 5:0 to Manchester City. Overall, Burnley have lost seven of their past 10 Premier League games, after losing just one of their 15 before that. It is clear they are in poor form and the atmosphere in the squad is far from ideal. What is worse, the players confidence is lost. Regular keeper Nick Pope is injured and that's a big problem as Bailey Peacock-Farrell struggled at Etihad. He became just the third goalkeeper to concede five or more goals on his Premier League debut, after John Sheffield in 1994 and Matt Murray in 2003. It is clear he is not an adequate replacement for Pope, but may be forced to start again as Pope is rated as doubtful with a head injury. Josh Brownhill and Phil Bardsley have both missed out against City and need to be assessed before the match. Robbie Brady and Dale Stephens are two more injury doubts. Finally, Jack Cork is definitely sidelined.
Everton are in the middle of the table with 16 points from 10 matches. Carlo Ancelotti is doing an excellent job and the fans are satisfied. Many of them are dreaming about the title, but it won't be easy. The start of the season was great, four victories in four matches warm up the atmosphere. But the current form isn't at that level, the Toffees have just one victory on the last five matches. To be worse, they lost the remaining four matches. Everton managed to beat Fulham, but suffered defeats from Southampton, Newcastle, Manchester United and Leeds United. Everton had plenty of good opportunities against the Whites last weekend, but goalkeeper Illan Meslier was excellent and denied efforts from Richarlison, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure. The Toffees back-line showed signs of frailty in the last period and that is reflected in the fact they have failed to keep a clean sheet since the opening game. The attack sometime scores enough goals to cover the defensive mistakes and to register a positive result, but in the last period weren't too efficient. Nevertheless, it is frustrating they failed to score against the newcomers at Goodison Park, even had 8 shots on target. The absence of the injured Seamus Coleman is big handicap as Ancelotti has no adequate replacement on that position, so Tom Davies will continue to deputize on the right flank. In addition, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Lucas Digne remain sidelined.
Burnley vs Everton Prediction:
Burnley are second from the bottom and the players confidence is low. The Clarets have scored just one goal on the last six matches in the Premier League. Everton are in poor form too, but the quality is on their side. Plus, they have players able to make a difference in a match like this - James Rodriguez, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin. Everton are closer to the victory here.
Burnley vs Everton Pick: Everton @ 2.02 with Betsafe