In the Championship last season, Burnley were the surprise package and Sean Dyche defied expectation of both neutrals and fans by getting the club up to the Premier League on a shoe-string budget. Yet again this season, Burnley and Sean Dyche will have to surprise everyone if they are going to retain their Premier League status.
Similar to Blackpool a few years ago, Burnley’s main strength is their team spirit and work rate that is build upon a number of players who are unlikely Premier League players. Those do not always guarantee points though and without the strike partnership of Vokes and Ings that was so successful Burnley are really struggling with a lack of goals a real concern.
The Vokes/Ings partnership resulted in 41 goals, 20 and 21 goals each respectively, and was an massive 56.94 % of Burnley’s overall total. With both players suffering injuries and impacting their involvement this campaign, Vokes is yet to return from a serious knee injury while Ings missed a month just as he was adapting to the top flight, the forward positions have been filled by Lukas Jutkiewicz, Marvin Sordell and Ashely Barnes.
None of the 3 strikers have been prolific in their careers in the Championship, Jutkiewicz scored only once in 18 matches last season and made 3 assists, while Sordell scored 7 goals in 31 matches and Barnes netting 5 goals in 22.
Jutkiewicz has been the one to feature in all of Burnley’s 8 Premier League matches, but is yet to find the back of the net during a time that the team has only scored 4 times – a run of 5 matches without a goal was a brutal reality check for Burnley. While in the modern game strikers offer more than just scoring goals, the former Middlesbrough striker has failed to have a strong influence on the pitch. The player dashboard below is from the West Ham match last weekend; the number of failed passes and the lack of shots especially is evident after the number of chances created by Burnley in the box (12).
Against Leicester Jutkiewicz had more involvement in the game, including a assist for Kightly’s goal, but only hit the target with all of his shots and passes in the 18-yard box failing to find a target. Overall on average, the striker has made 2.9 shots with 0.8 per match hitting the target. This lack of prolific finishing is a problem as chances will not come at a premium in the Premier League and being a new signing without a goal since his arrival Jutkiewicz will have an effect on his performance as he becomes more and more frustrated.
If Burnley hope to stay in the Premier League, their attacking exploits clearly need to improve. But with Danny Ings returned at the weekend and Sam Vokes will step up his training intensity in the coming weeks and 3 goals in their last two matches the tide could be starting to change as a team with limited Premier League experience find their feet.
