Burnley will be hoping to avoid a third defeat on the trot in the Premier League when they welcome a resurgent Brighton & Hove Albion to Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts fell to a 2-0 defeat to title-chasing Manchester City in midweek, whereas Brighton managed to beat reigning champions Liverpool 1-0 on Merseyside.
Match preview
© Reuters
Burnley have had to endure 180 gruelling minutes of football against Chelsea and Man City over the past week, so it did not come as much of a surprise to see Sean Dyche's men come away with zero points from those fixtures.
City cruised to victory at Turf Moor thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling on Wednesday evening - a result which left Burnley down in 17th after 21 matches, although they still have a comfortable eight-point cushion over 18th-placed Fulham in the battle to avoid the drop.
The Clarets recorded a resounding victory over the Cottagers in the FA Cup either side of impressive victories over Liverpool and Aston Villa in the top flight, so the signs are certainly encouraging, but plenty of teams around them are starting to return to winning ways as well.
With first-choice strikers Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood facing a race to be fit in time for this game, the onus will be on Jay Rodriguez and Matej Vydra to add to the mere 13 goals - the lowest out of any team in the top flight - that Burnley have already notched up this season.
However, eight of those 13 goals have come at Turf Moor, and the hosts have managed to come up trumps in four of their last seven games on familiar territory, although they are now facing a Brighton outfit who have just produced one of the performances of the season at Anfield.
© Reuters
Brighton and Burnley both share a common goal of Premier League survival, but the two clubs can bond over their respective triumphs at the home of the champions in an increasingly unpredictable campaign.
Liverpool had their chances, but Brighton's formidable rearguard demonstrated exactly why they have now kept four clean sheets on the bounce as they prevented the goal-shy Reds from scoring on their own turf for the third game in a row.
A second-half winner claimed by Steven Alzate was all that separated the two sides on the night as Brighton became the second top-flight team - after Burnley - to overcome Liverpool on their own turf in the 2020-21 Premier League season.
That historic victory - Brighton's first at Anfield for nearly 39 years - means that Graham Potter's men have now taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer in the top flight, and the Seagulls are the only side outside of the top five who have won at least three of their last four matches.
The visitors would temporarily open up a 13-point gap between themselves and the drop zone should they take the spoils at Turf Moor, but Burnley have only lost once to their opponents in the last 10 meetings between the two clubs.
Burnley Premier League form: LLWWLL
Burnley form (all competitions): LWWWLL
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form: DLWDWW
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions): LWWDWW
Team News
© Reuters
As mentioned, Burnley strikers Wood and Barnes are facing a race to be fit for this showdown, although the latter is thought to have a reasonable chance of returning here.
Charlie Taylor and Josh Brownhill will also be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing out against Man City, but Dyche will have the opportunity to rest players in next week's FA Cup showdown with Bournemouth.
A rare error from Nick Pope in the Burnley goal gifted Jesus the opener for Man City on Wednesday, but the 28-year-old's spot is not under any threat here.
The one dampening aspect of Brighton's win at Anfield was Solly March being forced off through injury, and Potter has admitted that the 26-year-old's problem "does not look good".
With Tariq Lamptey still a couple of weeks away from returning, Potter will be desperate to have Joel Veltman fit again for this game, while Danny Welbeck and Alexis Mac Allister have outside chances of returning too.
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Mee, Tarkowski, Pieters; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Vydra, Rodriguez
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; White, Webster, Dunk; Veltman, Bissouma, Gross, Alzate, Burn; Trossard, Maupay
We say: Burnley 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton are starting to gain a reputation as giant killers following two memorable wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, and the last thing that Potter will want to see is a slip-up against a fellow relegation rival. With the prospect of Burnley being without their two first-choice strikers again, we can envisage the Seagulls coming up trumps courtesy of a 1-0 scoreline for the fourth time in five Premier League matches.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brighton & Hove Albion win with a probability of 49.65%. A draw had a probability of 26.9% and a win for Burnley had a probability of 23.45%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brighton & Hove Albion win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.03%) and 1-2 (8.95%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.5%), while for a Burnley win it was 1-0 (8.73%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood.
