ADAM Goodwin (@agjournalism) previews Crystal Palace's trip to Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.
Burnley v Crystal Palace| Sunday 13:30 | Sky Sports
The international break is finally over and Premier League football is well and truly back – this week’s Super Sunday begins at Turf Moor.
Burnley have started the season with a win and a draw away at Chelsea and Tottenham but suffered defeat at home to West Brom. New signing Chris Wood opened his Clarets accounts at Wembley with a last-minute equaliser against Tottenham and he’ll be hoping he can double his Premier League tally this weekend.
Palace was beaten for the third time this season at home to Swansea, and their performance will worry the Selhurst Park faithful. The re-signing of Mamadou Sakho might tighten up the defence but they still haven’t solved the problems up front, with only one fit striker available for Sunday.
Burnley formidable at home and are worth watching
Burnley’s 3-2 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season was one of the best results in the first few weeks of the season, and to follow that win up with a draw at home to Tottenham means the Clarets have started the season a lot better than what they would’ve expected.
Burnley was one of the best teams in the league at home last campaign, winning nine and drawing three of their 19 games at Turf Moor. Their only home game this season ended in a 1-0 defeat to West Brom, but I’m sure Sean Dyche will still be confident they can replicate last season’s incredible home record.
Chris Wood came started his Burnley career off in scintillating form, bagging the equaliser off the bench at Wembley a couple of weeks ago. Sean Dyche’s other new signings have also settled in well. Jack Cork and Jonathan Walters, as well as Wood, have impressed fans in their first few games for the Clarets, and they’ll be hoping they can continue their good form heading into the game on Sunday.
Crystal Palace shattered and Frank is faulting
We’re three games into the Premier League season and Crystal Palace is currently winless and goalless under new manager Frank de Boer. This dreadful start means the Dutchman is the favourite to be the first manager to get the sack with pretty much every bookmaker. There were plenty of reports that de Boer might get the sack before this game on Sunday, but it looks like the owners will give him at least one more game.
There have been rumours that de Boer will change formation this Sunday and revert from his trusted 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3. During his short stint at Inter Milan, he tended to change the system depending on their opposition, but the depth he had at Inter was far superior to what he has at Palace.
The fact that de Boer wanted to play a possession based 3-4-3 system when appointed as Palace was quite naïve, bearing in mind they have always been known as quite a direct team in recent seasons. Also, de Boer didn’t have the chance to bring in his own players, and with Scott Dann and James Tomkins at the back, tiki-taka football was never going to work.
Palace conceded a total of 38 goals away from home last season and only managed to win six games. Burnley got the double over them last campaign, and I can’t see the Eagles having any more luck against them this Sunday.
Despite de Boer’s job being on the line here, I can’t see Crystal Palace getting a result. Burnley’s home form last season is too good to ignore and, despite suffering that loss to West Brom a few weeks ago, I think they’ll beat a Palace side that has struggled so far this season. Back Burnley to win at 7/5 with Betfair.
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Burnley v Crystal Palace – Burnley (7/5 Betfair)
