As the Premier League finally arrives at its last weekend, Brighton and Hove Albion travel north to face Burnley in a game which doesn’t have too much riding on it for either side.
The world’s scariest uncle, Sean Dyche’s Burnley sit ninth in the Premier League table, level on points with Sheffield United in eight and four points of Tottenham in seventh. While catching Spurs and qualifying for Europe is out of reach for the Clarets, a win against Brighton would give them their highest ever points total.
Brighton are 16th in the table, four points clear of the relegation zone, meaning Graham Potter’s side are safe and similarly do not have much incentive going into the game. However, like their hosts a win would give the Seagulls their highest points total since they first reached the Premier League in 2017.
Where and When
The game will be played on Sunday 26th July at Turf Moor, kicking off at 4:00 pm.
Previous Meetings
The two sides have only played each other 34 times competitively with Burnley just leading the wins column 11 to 10. The most common result has been a stalemate with 13 draws.
Only five of these meetings have been in the Premier League though, and in the top-flight the Lancashire club are unbeaten against their south coast opponents, with two wins and three draws.
One of those draws happened when the two sides met at the AMEX back in September when a Neal Maupay strike for Brighton was cancelled out by a 91st minute Jeff Hendrick to end the game 1-1.
Last 5
Burnley:
(W) 2-0 v Norwich
(D) 1-1 v Wolves
(D) 1-1 v Liverpool
(W) 1-0 v West Ham
(D) 1-1 v Sheffield United
The Clarets have been in an excellent run of form recently which has seen them go unbeaten in seven games, their last defeat coming in a 5-0 loss to Manchester City, in the first game back since lockdown. Arguably the highlight in their run was a 1-1 draw at Champions Liverpool, which ended Jurgen Klopp’s 100% home record, although this does look a bit less impressive given the Reds form since they secured the title, I think there might have been a bit too much alcohol consumed.
Brighton:
(D) 0-0 v Newcastle
(D) 1-1 v Southampton
(L) 5-0 v Manchester City
(L) 3-1 v Liverpool
(W) 1-0 v Norwich
Their visitors form hasn’t been nearly as good, although Graham Potter and Sean Dyche can bond over 5-0 losses to Manchester City, but a 0-0 draw with Newcastle in their last match simultaneously secured Brighton’s safety and bored everyone watching it to death, I watched it for free on Pick and still didn’t get my money's worth. The only win the Seagulls have picked up in their last five was against bottom club Norwich and the run of five have seen them lose to Liverpool, despite the Reds seemingly having been on the sauce.
Team News
Sean Dyche confirmed in his press conference that left-back Charlie Taylor will not make it back for this one after picking up a hamstring injury against Wolves, which means he stays on the sidelines with Ashley Barnes, Ben Mee, Matthew Lowton and Jack Cork. It’s a good job they don’t have anything to play for.
Brighton’s injury list looks significantly smaller with no new injury concerns, but Steven Alzate and Jose Izquierdo remain out.
Prediction
Burnley have been brilliant as of late and I expect this form to continue going into this one, because Sean Dyche is a hyper- competitive, ginger animal I reckon he’ll want to break the record points haul and I expect Brighton to be the victim of that. This combined with the fact Brighton are safe and might relax a bit, and yes, they could break their record points haul but they don’t have Sean Dyche at the helm, means I expect Burnley to win comfortably. Just a random fact I couldn’t fit in anywhere else, Burnley keeper Nick Pope, a man I once saw play non-league football for Harrow Borough, is joint level with Manchester City keeper Ederson on clean sheets kept this season, and one in this game could see him win the golden glove.
Score Prediction: Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Match Preview written by Jamie Perry