Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
On the face of it, this would usually be a game that Manchester United could expect to win without too much concern. The Red Devils won the reverse fixture 2-0 and sit nine places above their opponents in the table, but this season has taught us never to take anything for granted when it comes to this team. They were outclassed at the weekend and fortunate to only lose 2-0 to champions-elect Liverpool – although the same is and will be true of a lot of teams – and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have struggled for any measure of positive consistency all season.
Burnley, for their part, ended a run of four consecutive defeats in the league by overturning a 1-0 deficit to beat Leicester on Sunday. Manager Sean Dyche will hope his players take confidence from what was a battling performance and give a better account of themselves than they did when these sides met at Turf Moor just before the turn of the year.
Manchester United vs Burnley Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Burnley
The job of predicting Manchester United games is one of the most thankless on the planet. How do you measure a side that has won at Manchester City and lost at Bournemouth in the same season? The truth is, they’ve been this inconsistent for some time now, and when you introduce Burnley into the mix, it becomes all the trickier. The Clarets are no respecters of reputation, and like to overturn the bigger sides… usually. However, they’ve lost heavily when facing top-five sides this season – until the weekend just passed. This game could go either way, or neither; we predict the latter.
Our recommended tip: Chris Wood scores
Fresh from scoring his side’s equaliser at the weekend, New Zealand international Wood is an uncompromising attacker who will relish the chance to play against a home defence missing Viktor Lindelof. There’s nothing especially sophisticated about the way Burnley play – solid service from the wings benefits their combative forwards – but when Chris Wood gets a decent cross to attack, there are few better players at making the most of those chances. He’s 5/2 with Betway to make the net bulge here, and worth a look at that price.
Previous matches
With United bringing their abysmal away record (just two wins from nine at that point) to Turf Moor on the 28th of December, it may have seemed like the time was ripe for Dyche to get a first win over United – one of just three opponents he has never turned over in his time as boss. For much of the first half, it looked at least possible, as the sides traded ineffective blows, but just before half-time Anthony Martial fired the visitors ahead. The game stayed on a knife-edge as both teams improved in the second half, but it took until the 95th minute for one of them to convert a chance, Marcus Rashford running free to seal the win on the counter-attack.
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Players to watch: Fred & Ashley Westwood
Maybe he’s finally demonstrating at United the class that he showed in both Brazil and Ukraine before his £52million move to the Premier League. Maybe it’s the fact that with Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba injured, there are scant other options. Who knows what has allowed for Fred to finally get a run in the side? Either way, he’s beginning to look the part, and his passing – along with an admirable work-rate that keeps him at the heart of everything good United do right now – makes him a standout in the present XI.
Westwood has been involved in the last six goals Burnley have scored, getting the winner himself as the Clarets won against Leicester. Prior to that goal, a stunning long-range finish, he’d assisted the last five with pinpoint crosses – something he has added to his game in recent times, having spent most of his career as a deep-lying, unfussy playmaker. If his side are to keep up their recent resurgence, the 29-year-old will be a major part of it, and United will need to watch out for him here.
