Tottenham Hotspur will be aiming to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they welcome Burnley to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs have lost five of their last six in the league to drop down into ninth position in the table, while Burnley currently occupy 15th position, just six points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Tottenham ensured that they would be present in the last-16 stage of the Europa League courtesy of a 4-0 home victory over Wolfsberger on Thursday night, which secured an 8-1 aggregate success, setting up a tie with Dinamo Zagreb in the next round of the competition.
Spurs must address their disappointing league form, though, as they have lost five of their last six in England's top flight, including their last two away to Manchester City and West Ham United.
Jose Mourinho's side beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 in their last home league fixture, but they are now down in ninth position, some nine points behind fourth-placed West Ham, albeit with a game in hand.
A Champions League finish looks beyond Tottenham, but they are only four points behind sixth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand and will be determined to secure European football for the 2021-22 campaign, while the Europa League does give them another chance of securing a spot in next season's Champions League.
Spurs only have the eighth-best home record in the league this season, dropping points in seven of their 12 matches, but they will be taking on a Burnley side with the fourth-worst away record in the league.
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Burnley are certainly not safe from the threat of relegation as they sit just just six points above 18th-placed Fulham, who have found some impressive form at a vital stage of the campaign.
Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion, who sit 17th and 16th respectively, will also both have Burnley in their sights, and it is likely that the Clarets will drop a position or two if they lose this weekend.
The Clarets are actually on a four-game unbeaten run in the league but three of those matches have ended in draws, including a 0-0 with West Bromwich Albion last weekend.
Sean Dyche's side have a tough run of fixtures ahead as they face Leicester City, Arsenal and Everton in their three matches after this one, and it is not difficult to see how they could be pulled into trouble.
Burnley have only lost two of their last four league matches with Tottenham, but they have not beaten the capital outfit away from home in the league since January 1983, which is an indication of the size of their task as the Clarets prepare to head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form: LLLWLL
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions): WLLWLW
Burnley Premier League form: LLDWDD
Burnley form (all competitions): LDLWDD
Team News
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Tottenham will only be missing one player for Sunday's clash, with Giovani Lo Celso still unavailable for selection despite the fact that the Argentine has made strong progress in his recovery from a thigh issue.
Serge Aurier is fit following a calf problem, and the Ivory Coast international is expected to return to the team at right-back, while there could be a starting role for Dele Alli, who impressed against Wolfsberger.
Gareth Bale's absence from the starting XI on Thursday suggests that the Wales international could be handed a spot in the side here, joining the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack, while Toby Alderweireld might get the nod alongside Eric Dier in the heart of the defence.
As for Burnley, Chris Wood is in contention to start, having returned to training following a hamstring problem, while Jay Rodriguez should be available despite suffering a knock against West Brom last time out.
Ashley Barnes and Johann Berg Gudmundsson are definitely out, while Robbie Brady and Erik Pieters are also doubts for the trip to the English capital.
Dyche is expected to keep faith with the majority of the side that started against West Brom, with Wood for Matej Vydra potentially the only change to the starting XI.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Ndombele; Son, Dele, Bale; Kane
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Brownhill, Cork, Westwood, McNeil; Wood, Rodriguez
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Burnley
Tottenham's league form has been incredibly disappointing, and the capital side will not have had long to prepare for this game due to their involvement in the Europa League. Burnley are certainly capable of making it a tricky afternoon for Mourinho's side, but we still fancy the hosts to pick up all three points.
Top tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
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 Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 63.27%. A draw had a probability of 22.2% and a win for Burnley had a probability of 14.58%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.82%) and 2-1 (9.48%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.38%), while for a Burnley win it was 0-1 (5.69%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 3.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Tottenham Hotspur would win this match.
