BURNLEY'S great escape plan will become clearer on Thursday night when they host Southampton in an absolute must-win crunch match for them.
The Turf Moor side stunned English football last week by sacking long-serving manager Sean Dyche – a sure sign that absolute panic had set in down Lancashire way following a truly woeful defeat at doomed Norwich City.
They were managed by defender Ben Mee and U23s chief Michael Jackson for their creditable 1-1 draw away at West Ham United on Sunday, but remain deep in trouble. Going into the midweek fixtures, they are three points adrift in third bottom, having played a game more than Everton with seven games left.
So a home game against a drifting Southampton side with little (apart from the sizeable Premier League cash for places) to play for has to be earmarked for three points.
But which Saints will turn up for this? The one who were annihilated 6-0 at home by Chelsea or the one who ended a six-game winless streak where they lost five of them by beating Arsenal in their last outing.
The pressure is all on Burnley as they precariously cling to Premier League survival.
How the bookies view it
Southampton's league position and the fact they are 14 points ahead is presumably the reason why they are narrow favourites in Lancashire.
Saints can be backed at 17/10 with SBK and the hosts are 9/5 with SportNation. The draw is 23/10 with Paddy Power.
Recent head to heads
The teams fought out an entertaining draw in October which finished 2-2 at St Mary's as can be seen below. Southampton are unbeaten in their last three meetings.
Players to watch
Maxwel Cornet missed a penalty against West Ham in the weekend and will be desperate to bounce back. He's scored seven goals this season and is 13/5 to net on Thursday with Paddy Power.
Scotland star Stuart Armstrong has a habit of popping up with some vital goals – he's scored three since February. He is 5/1 to net at Turf Moor with UniBet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Burnley won few friends when they ditched the dependable Dyche, but they might just manage to get over the line here against a Saints side who were on a really poor run themselves before their win over the Gunners. For a must-win game, the hosts look too big.
Despite a recent poor run, Southampton have managed to score in five of their last six games and with Burnley simply having to net too, the both teams to score price of 4/5 with William Hill looks solid enough.
Burnley's last three games have seen corner counts of: 17, 13 and 15 and Southampton had 14 in their last game. So try the over 12 corners with bet365, which is 9/4.
This English Premier League match between Burnley and Southampton will be played on Apr 21, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Burnley vs Southampton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
