Crystal Palace pay a visit to Burnley on Sunday in Matchweek 4 of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign. Sitting at the bottom of the table with a woeful 0 points, Palace are desperate for a result. Burnley, who sit 10th on 4 points, hope to win their first match of the season at Turf Moor.
Burnley vs Crystal Palace: Match Preview
Burnley
Taking a result from Chelsea and Tottenham in the first three weeks of the new Premier League season, Sean Dyche’s team aren’t frightened by any side. They’ll be more than happy to welcome a pointless, and goalless, Crystal Palace to Turf Moor on Sunday.
They should be cautious, however. Just three weeks ago, West Brom visited the Clarets and made off with all three points. A hopeful Palace will look to replicate that, but they know it won’t be easy given Burnley’s home form throughout last season.
The Clarets must stay compact in defence if they want to keep their first clean sheet of the season. They cannot take this match lightly simply because Palace are yet to score their first goal.
If Ben Mee and James Tarkowski communicate well and take command in their 18-yard-box, they should be able to make life difficult for Christian Benteke. The big Belgian has looked extremely out of sorts so far this season and will want to turn his fortunes around. By cutting off the supply to Benteke, the hosts will surely limit his chances.
Going forward, Sean Dyche has an interesting decision to make. Sam Vokes has been the sole striker in Burnley’s attack of recent. New signing Chris Wood certainly gave Dyche something to think about though following his equalizer against Spurs at Wembley.
It was a dream start to the New Zealand international’s Premier League career. He’ll hope to make his home debut on Sunday. Whether the former Leeds striker did enough to persuade Dyche to start him is simply up to the English manager. Either way, Wood is likely to see some action.
It’s a must win for the Clarets. They simply can’t afford to drop points for the second game in a row at home. Dyche and his men are certain they can bag all three, but the Eagles won’t go down without a fight.
Crystal Palace
Pointless and goalless, Palace must turn things around and quick.
Frank de Boer is nearing his end. If things don’t improve immediately, Steve Parish and the board could show him the door.
De Boer seems to be insistent that he doesn’t need to change his tactics to better suit the Premier League style of play. The manager’s Dutch influence has proved miserable so far. For a team who’ve used counter-attacking tactics for a majority of their stay in the top-flight, it’s hard to say if ‘Total Football’ could ever thrive in SE25.
A goal would be a nice place to start. With Burnley unable to register a clean sheet so far this season, Palace have some hope that they might just be able to get on the board.
This would require some life in the attack. They were lucky to create any chances at all in their 2-0 loss to Swansea with how boring they looked going forward. To get Benteke going again, he requires service into the box. Wingers and wing-backs must be looking to get down the outside in order to send in some crosses.
Last season’s top scorer for the Eagles, the Belgian is most dangerous inside the 18-yard box. Still without the creative Wilfried Zaha, Palace are depending on others to step up.
The soldier is back and ready to prove his worth. Mamadou Sakho has happily returned to Selhurst after spending the latter end of last season on loan with Palace. T
hanks in large part to the defender, Palace were able to avoid the drop in the end. Sakho will be striving to provide the Eagles with their first clean sheet of the season come Sunday, but nothing will be easy.
It’s hard to see de Boer abandoning his formation of three at the back. However, the Frenchman is likely to come right into the defence regardless. Either Vokes, Wood or possibly both will be threatening Wayne Hennessey’s goal, but Sakho should do well to see them off. He provides a demanding presence in Palace’s backline and won’t be backing down from many challenges.
Going to Turf Moor won’t be an easy task at all. De Boer knows his position could be on the line. It’s a ‘show me some improvement or you’ll get the axe’ type situation for him, and he’ll be lucky to get any sleep Saturday night.
The transfer deadline day signing of Sakho bolsters the squad’s hopes of keeping a clean sheet, but if they’re to get anything out of the match someone must provide an attacking spark.
Main Photo
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