Week Three – Burnley vs Leeds – Sport Grill

Burnley welcome Leeds United to Turf Moor in a huge Super Sunday clash as both teams look for their first league wins of the season.

Victory would see Burnley climb out of the relegation zone and as high as 12th, should Watford lose at Tottenham Hotspur which takes place at the same time.

Leeds themselves can go 12th with a win because their goal difference means that they won’t crack the top 11 unless they score five goals or more.

Team News

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Ashley Westwood is set to return for Burnley after a toe injury forced him to miss last weekend’s defeat at Liverpool.

Matej Vydra (groin) is also expected to be available but Dale Stephens (ankle) and Kevin Long (calf) remain ruled out.

Leeds have a near full squad available for selection as Robin Koch misses out with a hip injury.

Stat Attack

• Burnley lost both of their two previous Premier League clashes against Leeds (L2), which came last season with the Clarets conceding five goals without scoring.
• Leeds are unbeaten in four of their last five visits to Turf Moor (W1, D1 L3), although they did lose on penalties after a 2-2 draw in September 2017 in League Cup.
• Five yellow cards were handed out during both meetings last season with Burnley picking up four of those five cautions.
• James Tarkowski has produced six headed clearances so far this season in the league, more than any other Burnley player
• No Leeds player has had more touches on the ball this season than the 212 touches made by Luke Ayling.

Prediction

Burnley will be disappointed to be coming into this game without a single point under their belt because they’ve performed well in both matches so far, yet it has been small defining moments which have cost them with their 2-0 loss at Liverpool last weekend a particularly harsh defeat given their attacking display.

Leeds meanwhile were sluggish defensively at times last week in a comeback 2-2 draw at home to Everton, yet showed excellent spirit to fight back twice after conceding before going on to deliver a clinical midweek win over Crewe Alexandra.

Sean Dyche’s Clarets though will need to be clinical early on if they’re to get the opening goal which could be key because if Leeds score first, I can see the visitors cracking on but if Burnley are first to score then it is definitely game on given the defensive deficiencies within both teams.

Prediction: Burnley 1-1 Leeds

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