Toothless Burnley Favourites Over Sunderland

Despite seeing his club winless and languishing in the Premier League relegation zone, Burnley manager Sean Dyche will be a happier man than his opposite number Gus Poyet, whose Sunderland side travel to Turf Moor tomorrow (20th September).

Two points from their first four fixtures, including a gutsy 0-0 draw away at Old Trafford, and `work-in-progress` Burnley have already proved their worth in the top tier of English football. With another goalless draw away at Crystal Palace last weekend, the Clarets have earned their defensive stripes, with three of the four goals they have conceded coming in a disappointing if not understandable 3-1 defeat on the opening day against clinical Chelsea. That said, Scott Arfield`s long range strike against the Blues has been their only converted chance and Burnley should need to improve on this should they want to get all three points from Sunderland and/ or, ultimately, survive.

Also without a win, Sunderland`s results have been something of a mixed bag. No fan of the Black Cats will be annoyed with two draws against two top seven contenders in Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester united at the Stadium of Light, but frustrating results against seemingly easier opponents have to be a concern. Poyet`s Sunderland were held 2-2 by West Brom on the opening day with an 85th minute Sebastian Larsson equaliser cancelling out Saido Berahino`s brace, whilst Charlie Austin bundled home a goal for QPR in their 1-0 home win.

With this in mind, Burnley are the 31/20 (Betvictor, boylesports, ladbrokes) favourites to break their duck first at the expense of Poyet`s men. Eight-five to forty with Betvictor says that Sunderland will be the happier of the two teams come the final whistle, with a draw offered at 23/10 (bet365).

The issue for Burnley will be whether they can prove to be an attacking threat and hit the back of the net without first-choice striker Danny Ings. The former Championship Player of the Year limped off just before half-time in last weekend`s game against Crystal Palace. A hamstring injury, the former Bournemouth man can expect to be sidelined for up to four weeks. He joins Sam Vokes, with whom Ings scored 37 goals in the Championship last season, on the physio`s bench, Vokes still recovering from a long-term knee injury. Ashley Barnes, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Marvin Sordell could all serve as like-for-like replacements. According to the bookmakers, Southampton-born Jutkiewicz is the most likely to double Burnley`s tally of goals with Betvictor and boylesports offering 14/5 on him scoring at any time.

Sunderland`s line-up, too, will receive something of a facelift with Poyet`s changes, rather than being enforced, coming out of a desire to find a winning formula sooner rather than later.

`I want to see if I can manage the team a little bit better, without being a tinker. I hate that.` The Argentinean told the Trinity mirror North East.

`But it shouldn`t just be if you play well, you`re in, if we lose, you`re out.

`I think we`ve got options now.`

Such tactical nous could see Inter Milan loan signing Ricardo Alvarez drop to the bench after struggling to handle the pace of the North East side`s 2-2 draw against Spurs last weekend. Connor Wickham, however, retains his place in the side after his positive showing, though the striker has been warned that he will be replaced should he not begin to fire in front of goal.

`But even if Connor played very, very well and deserves to play next week for sure, we need goals from the strikers.`

Boylesports have Wickham at 29/10 to be the first striker to penetrate the Clarets` defence in two previous games.

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19/09/2014     © Frixo 2026