Manchester United -v- Burnley
Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester
Saturday 27 April 2023, KO 15:00 BST
Manchester United are back in Premier League action on Saturday afternoon as they welcome Burnley to the Theatre of Dreams. Erik ten Hag will be happy that his side was able to battle from 2-1 down to overcome Sheffield United 4-2 on Wednesday evening at Old Trafford.
United need to break into the top four of the Premier League this season in order to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, which does look unlikely. United sit in sixth place in the league at this stage 13 points adrift of fourth placed Aston Villa – with a game in hand over them.
Burnley are relegation challengers this season, sitting in 19th place in the league with 23 points, just three points from safety with Nottingham Forest sitting above the relegation zone. It seems unlikely that United will reach the Champions League next season but must end the season strongly.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Sheffield 4-2 W, Coventry 3-3 (4-2 penalties) W, Bournemouth 2-2 D, Liverpool 2-2 D, Chelsea 4-3 L, Brentford 1-1 D
Goals: 15 – Bruno Fernandes, 14 – Rasmus Hojlund, 10 – Scott McTominay, 9 – Alejandro Garnacho, 8 – Marcus Rashford, 5 – Casemiro, 4 – Harry Maguire, 3 – Kobbie Mainoo, 2 – Antony, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Martial, 1 – Amad Diallo, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Hannibal Mejbri, Mason Mount, Raphael Varane
Assists: 11 – Bruno Fernandes, 5 – Diogo Dalot, Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, 3 – Casemiro, Scott McTominay, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 2 – Antony, Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Maguire, 1 – Jonny Evans, Omari Forson, Victor Lindelof, Kobbie Mainoo, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martínez, Mason Mount, Facundo Pellistri, Luke Shaw
Burnley – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Sheffield 4-1 W, Brighton 1-1 D, Everton 1-0 L, Wolves 1-1 D, Chelsea 2-2 D, Brentford 2-1 W
Goals: 6 – Jacob Bruun Larsen, 5 – Zeki Amdouni, Lyle Foster, 4 – Josh Brownhill, David Datro Fofana, Wilson Odobert, 3 – Dara O’Shea, 2 – Sander Berge, Jay Rodríguez, 1 – Ameen Al Dakhil, Lorenz Assignon, Josh Cullen, Jóhann Gudmundsson, Luca Koleosho, Charlie Taylor
Assists: 4 – Dara O’Shea, 3 – Josh Brownhill, Josh Cullen, Lyle Foster, Anass Zaroury, 2 – Lorenz Assignon, Jóhann Gudmundsson, Wilson Odobert, 1 – Zeki Amdouni, Sander Berge, Jordan Beyer, David Datro Fofana, Luca Koleosho, Jay Rodríguez, Connor Roberts, Charlie Taylor, Vitinho
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Burnley have met 17 times in the Premier League. United have won 10 times, drawing five times and losing twice. United have scored 26 goals in this fixture, winning four penalties, scoring two. Burnley have scored 11 goals, winning no penalties. United have some good results here.
United have kept nine clean sheets against Burnley, who have four clean sheets against United. There have been discipline issues with United players receiving 28 yellow cards and two red cards with Burnley receiving getting 39 yellow cards and no red cards.
Tom Heaton, Michael Keane, Chris Eagles, Phil Bardsley, David May, Lee Roche, Luke Chadwick, Robbie Brady, Andreas Lindegaard, David Jones, Lee Grant, Richard Eckersley, Andy Cole, Eric Djemba Djemba and Wout Weghorst have played for both United and Burnley.
Team News
Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane have all been ruled out due to injury. Jonny Evans, Willy Kambwala and Marcus Rashford all have a 25% chance of being fit to face Burnley on Saturday.
Ten Hag has utilised Harry Amass, Omari Forson, Louis Jackson, Habeeb Ogunneye and Ethan Wheatley recently and it looks like they will remain in the squad to face Burnley so that United have enough players to bring in later on to fight fatigue after three matches in seven days.
Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Luca Koleosho, Aaron Ramsey and Nathan Redmond have all been ruled out of the visit to the Theatre of Dreams through injury. Lyle Foster has been passed fit so should be part of the travelling squad for this fixture, which is important for Burnley.
Predicted United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Onana;
Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Maguire, Dalot;
McTominay, Mainoo;
Amad, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Hojlund
Predicted Burnley Starting XI – 4-4-2
Muric;
Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve, Taylor;
Vitinho, Cullen, Berge, Bruun Larsen;
Foster, Odobert
Match Prediction
United will need to battle hard against Burnley as they will be seeking to get out of the relegation places with just four matches (including this one) remaining this season. United also have an objective that is going to be hard to complete – breaking into the top four this season.
United will need to qualify for the Champions League if they are to rise from this devastating season but it looks certain that the UEFA Europa League will be the level they reach this season. United have struggled of late to keep a lead and win matches but that changed on Wednesday evening.
Ten Hag’s side will need to break Burnley down, who will be seeking to find goals against this depleted United squad which could see them escape the bottom three this weekend. United will also need to keep the pressure on Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle United though.
Manchester United 4-1 Burnley
Written by Paul
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