Burnley vs Manchester United
Manchester United make the short trip up the road to Burnley on Sunday, in a clash where the victors will happily silence a few critics.
The hosts are in the bottom three after a slow start, while United aren’t far ahead. Jose Mourinho claims he has nothing to prove, reminding the press pack of his stellar track record, but his current crop at Manchester United does.
Meanwhile, in their fourth season in the last five years in the Premier League, the Clarets are becoming top-flight regulars. But they will be keen to prove that last season’s seventh-place finish was no flash in the pan.
The Sunday show in the Premier League: Burnley vs Manchester United, has all the hallmarks of a classic.
Talking Points
This would have billed as a David-vs-Goliath battle a few seasons ago, but that is not the case these days. Last season, Burnley gave Manchester two very competitive games as Sean Dyche has improved his squad slowly but surely.
There are always higher expectations at Old Trafford, of course, and no one expects more than the current boss. Mourinho is right to tell all of his past triumphs, as a coach he has won the league in England, Spain and Italy. But his chances of keeping up with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are slim, and that annoys the Manchester United faithful no end.
The Class of ’92 is giving Jose support though. TV pundit and committed Red Gary Neville has urged United not to follow Chelsea’s model of hire-and-fire, while his big mate Ryan Giggs has also offered his support for the United coach.
But he needs to get his team playing sooner rather than later. He has some stellar talent at his disposal, but back-to-back defeats in the Premier League has cast serious doubt over their ability to turn it on every week. They were lacklustre in a shock defeat to Brighton and outclassed in the second half against Spurs. The Red Devils played with great tempo and intent in the first half-hour of the game against Mauricio Pochettino’s team on Monday night, but they were eventually undone by the visitors’ more potent attack.
Why did some of the Red Devils star at the World Cup when they have been so inconsistent at the Theatre of Dreams? Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford seemed to play with much more attacking verve for England, while Paul Pogba played a big part in France’s World Cup win.
Pogba is a key man for Mourinho. The post-Russia 2018 close-season gossip was around whether the player and his boss had fallen out and if a power struggle was starting at the club. Jose certainly hasn’t cut a happy figure.
And now, the Red Devils have just heard the news that they have been grouped with Juventus and Valencia in the Champions League. That’s a tough group which will see Cristiano Ronaldo strut his stuff at Old Trafford again.
Meanwhile, Burnley just crashed out of Europe. Despite dominating Greek side Olympiakos at Turf Moor last night, the Clarets were unable to progress after missing a host of chances, but Dyche says Burnley’s European adventure has been an important learning experience.
They need to get back to concentrating on domestic matters quickly. Burnley’s last home league game was a 1-3 defeat to Watford, and the passionate home fans will try to make Turf Moor a fortress once more. Centre-back James Tarkowski has earned a recall to Gareth Southgate’s England squad and, along with key players Chris Wood and Jack Cork, was rested against Olympiakos, so he’ll be raring to go.
History
Neither team has made a good start to the season; both have three defeats from the last four in all competitions.
Burnley will try to get back to their defensive prowess of last term when they conceded just 39 league goals. Manchester United were strong on the road last season, winning ten, drawing four and losing five.
The Burnley vs Manchester United results in recent years have been in the visitors’ favour with five wins to Burnley’s one and three draws. In the last two seasons, the Red Devils have won the meetings at Turf Moor while the Old Trafford clashes have ended in draws, including a dramatic 2-2 on Boxing Day last year when Lingard grabbed an injury-time leveller for the hosts.
Betting Tip
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Burnley vs Manchester United | 2 to 3 goals at 1.90 |
| September 2, 23:00 (GMT+8) |
The Burnley vs Manchester United odds suggest an away win, but it’s by no means cut and dried. At SBOBET, we’re offering 5.20 on a home win, 1.67 on an away win and 3.60 on the draw.
While 0-1 is the most likely result at 5.40, Burnley’s defence has not been so tight so far this season while they have packed more of an attacking punch. The odds on a 1-1 draw are at 6.80. That might be worth a look.
I think there will be goals at Turf Moor but not a glut.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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