Burnley will be hosting Brighton And Hove Albion for their Premier League fixture at Turf Moor on Sunday evening.
The Clarets have hit another winning form with 4 registered in their last 6 fixtures. Relegation-threatened Stoke City held them to a 1-1 draw at the bet365 Stadium last weekend as Ashley Burnes equalized in the 62nd minute to make the race for the 7th place finish uncontestable.
Sean Dyche’s side has now moved 8 points clear of Everton in the points table with just 3 games left in the season.
Arsenal are still up by 4 points and a final slip up from them will truly make this dream of a season a story for the history books.
Brighton can still get knocked out of the league but the odds of that happening are significantly low. They are 7 points clear from the bottom three and are in the 13th spot of the points table.
Chris Hughton has fought his way through a challenging initial season at the top-flight but is not in the most prolific form. They have registered 4 losses in their last 6 and have drawn the other two.
The Premier League is far too ruthless to allow such a woeful run to continue. The Seagulls are lucky to have collected points early in the campaign and are competing against teams like Southampton, Stoke City and West Brom who themselves are stuck in the bottom three for a while now.
The 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur two weeks back should be enough motivation to get the team back to winning ways. Although Burnley have the higher odds, there can never be a guaranteed saying when desperation of survival sets in.
Here is how Dyche might field his team on matchday.
Formation: 4-4-2
Defence
Nick Pope should get the nod for the goalkeeping position. He has just been far too impressive to allow Tom Heaton back into the starting XI any time soon.
The centre-back positions might feature James Tarkowski and Kevin Long. Matthew Lowton is expected to provide cover from the right and Stephen Ward from the left.
Midfield
Steven Defour and Robbie Brady are still in recovery and hence ruled out for this tie.
Ashley Westwood and Jack Cork might start ahead of Jeff Hendrick in the central midfield roles.
They might get flanked by Aaron Lennon from the right and Johann Berg Gudmundsson from the left.
Attack
Both Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes are in sublime form right now and are proving to be the difference maker for the Clarets on a nightly basis. Their spots in the starting lineup are cemented under Dyche.
