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Burnley logo
Championship
Sep 12, 2015 at 3pm UK
 
Sheffield Wednesday logo

3-1

Jones (7'), Taylor (78'), Gray (91')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Nuhiu (20')

Preview: Burnley vs. Sheffield Wednesday

Sports Mole runs the rule over Saturday's Championship match at Turf Moor as Burnley entertain Sheffield Wednesday.

After a week off for international football, the Championship is back this weekend, and at Turf Moor Burnley take on Sheffield Wednesday.

The break arguably came at a bad time for Burnley after back-to-back wins, while Wednesday will hope the time off can help them get back on the right track.


Burnley

Ben Mee of Burnley celebrates scoring the opening goal with George Boyd during the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Burnley at Ashton Gate on August 29, 2015© Getty Images

The Clarets are into the top 10 after ending their four-game winless streak to start the season. Sean Dyche's side didn't seem to be adapting well to relegation, but back-to-back victories over Brentford and Bristol City have steadied the ship.

Deadline day has passed since then and Dyche must be happy with the squad at his disposal as no panic buys were made. Andre Gray was the summer's big purchase and he made his debut in the 2-1 win over City last time out.

When Gray was signed it looked like Dyche had far too many strikers to choose from, but Jelle Vossen has returned to Belgium just eight weeks after joining, while Marvin Sordell is now a Colchester United player after his contract was cancelled.

Dyche also lost Lukas Jutkiewicz to a knee ligament injury so there is plenty of pressure on Gray as the club's current top scorer is defender Michael Keane.

Five of Burnley's six Championship goals last month were headers and three of them were scored by Keane, who has never scored more than that in a single campaign and was nominated for August's Championship Player of the Month.

Recent Championship form: DDLWW
Recent form (all competitions): DLDLWW


Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday FC celebrate after scoring the opening goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road on August 22, 2015© Getty Images

An ambitious new owner and a confident opening-day win had Owls fans purring at the possibility of a playoff push, but since then just two points out of a possible 12 have been put on the board and Carlos Carvalhal's men are down to 15th and mid-table once again.

They are through to the Capital One Cup third round and a tasty trip to St James' Park to face Newcastle United awaits later this month, but Carvalhal will be desperate to get back to winning ways in the league.

Last time out they hosted Middlesbrough and went down 3-1 to the promotion favourites, so the international break has probably come at a good time and the ranks have been boosted with some new signings.

Barry Bannan, Fernando Forestieri and Daniel Pudil are all waiting to make their debuts and supporters will hope that they can impress as much as another summer signing, Marco Matias, who has scored in back-to-back league games, including a wonderstrike against Leeds United that might have the goal of the season award wrapped up already.

One area that wasn't strengthened was attack, and Stevie May left to join Preston North End permanently. That leaves the Owls a little light in attack, but they are likely to go in for another frontman now the emergency loan window is open after failing to land Gary Hooper from Norwich City.

Last season Wednesday collected eight more points on the road than at home, but they are yet to win on the road in any competition in 2015-16 and have kept just one clean sheet in their last 12 Championship away games dating back to early January.

Recent Championship form: WLDDL
Recent form (all competitions): WLDDWL


Team News

Andre Gray of Burnley during the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Burnley at Ashton Gate on August 29, 2015 in Bristol, England.© Getty Images

Joey Barton was Burnley's other impressive capture in the final few days of the summer window but Dyche has said that he will not make his debut here as he continues to get back to full fitness.

However, Matt Lowton could make his debut after recovering from a shin problem that he picked up shortly after joining from Aston Villa. Gray should again start up front and he is likely to partner Sam Vokes in attack.

Carvalhal has a near fully-fit squad to choose from and could include captain Glenn Loovens after he shook off his latest injury over the international break.

After signing a new contract, Keiren Westwood is expected to return in goal, while further forward Bannan and Forestieri could make their debuts.

Burnley possible starting lineup:
Heaton; Lowton, Duff, Keane, Mee; Kightly, Arfield, Jones, Boyd; Vokes, Gray

Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Westwood; Hunt, Loovens, Lees, Wiggins; Hutchinson, Bannan, McGugan; Forestieri, Nuhiu, Matias


Head To Head

The two teams weren't in the same division last year, but still met in the Capital One Cup second round and Wednesday claimed a 1-0 win at Turf Moor to progress.

In fact, Wednesday are also unbeaten in eight league games away at Burnley, winning four and drawing four since their last defeat there in October 2000.

A home goal will see Burnley extend their scoring streak against the Owls to 11 games.


Video Preview

Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:



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We say: Burnley 1-1 Wednesday

Burnley should be more settled after their return to form, but this game could be decided on how Wednesday's new signings bed in. Matias has been a hit since his arrival earlier this summer and if others follow suit the Owls might take something back to Yorkshire.



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3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1610422191232
4Burnley168621961330
5Middlesbrough1683529191027
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom166821811726
7Watford168262524126
8Millwall166641914524
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City165742020022
11Derby CountyDerby165562020020
12Stoke CityStoke165561920-120
13Norwich CityNorwich164752524119
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15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds165471826-819
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18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd164571924-517
19Plymouth ArgylePlymouth164571728-1117
20Preston North EndPreston163761624-816
21Cardiff CityCardiff164481524-916
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23Portsmouth152671628-1212
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