Burnley play for pride when they face 9th placed Stoke City on Saturday. While Burnley have won just one of their last 6 games, their visitors for the evening have bagged 2 wins in the last six. They will be looking to end the season on a high and in the top half of the league, which they would confirm if they garnered a point out of the last 2 games.
Team News
Burnley
Burnley, fortunately, do not have a lot of fresh injury worries going into this game. However, midfielder Dean Marney (ACL Knee) and defender Kevin Lon (ACL Knee) have been ruled out of the game with their respective injuries. This means Sean Dyce is likely to o into the game with the same side that won at KC Stadium on the last match day.
Stoke City
Stoke City’s guardian-in-chief Asmir Begovic remains a doubt for this tie after snubbing the Stoke bench. It is possible that the Bosnian stopper could feature on Saturday subject to manager Mark Hughes preference to omit him from the side for the rest of the season.
Youngster Krkic (ACL Knee Injury), who was showing signs of his potential before getting injured, as well as striker Moses (Hamstring) remain out of the game against Burnley as they recover from their injuries.
Interesting Facts
- This will be the 97th meeting between these sides in all competitions.
- Of the 96 games played between the sides, Burnley have won 33 games, Stoke City have won 42 games, while the rest have ended as draws.
- At Home Burnley have won 22 of their 48 ties against Stoke City.
Possible Line-Up
Burnley
Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Lee, Taylor, Jones, Arfield, Boyd, Barnes, Ings
Stoke City
Butland, Cameron, Shawcross, Muniesa, Pieters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Walters, Adam, Arnautovic, Crouch
Key Men
Danny Ings
Danny Ings has been in fine form this season, despite being part of an often tormented Burnley side. The 23 year old striker has scored 10 goals and assisted 4 in 33 appearances so far this season. That would translate into a goal involvement ratio in excess of 50% for a club that has scored all of 27 goals this season. Ings has not signed a contract extension at Turf Moor and news is often rife with details of his transfer to Anfield at the end of the season. Irrespective of his destination at the end of the season, the striker will be keen to add to his goal tally and leave on a high. He will be crucial to Burnley’s fortunes against a side that are believed to be one of the better polished defensive units in the league. However, the striker has shown that he can be incisive against them courtesy of his brace earlier in the season.
Peter Crouch
We expect the big man to be back in the starting line-up and to be back amongst the goals for the Potters come Saturday. The striker has been confined to substitute appearances since the end of February, when he scored his last goal in a Stoke shirt against Hull. The striker has bagged 7 goals this season apart from bagging 2 assists. Crouch has demonstrated incredible ability in front of the goal season after season and despite not getting any younger at 34 years of age, his appetite to improve his premier league goal tally hasn’t reduced and should Burnley fail to execute their tactics to handle the big man, he could prove to be lethal.
Head-To-Head
| 2014/2015 | Stoke City | 1- 2 | Burnley | Premier League |
| 2009/10 | Burnley | 1 – 1 | Stoke City | Premier League |
| Stoke City | 2 – 0 | Burnley | Premier League | |
| 2012/2013 | Stoke City | 1 – 1 | Burnley | Championship |
| Burnley | 0 – 0 | Stoke City | Championship |
Prediction
Stoke chase their Premier League record tally of 50 points attained last season. With Liverpool due to visit them on the last day of the season, the Potters will be keen to get the record sorted. However, we expect the Burnley side to dish out an impressive performance and chalk out a 1-0 victory at home.
