Prediction: Burnley vs Stoke City

Verdict: Home Win

Best Odds: 13/10

Bookmaker: 888sport

Premier League return to action almost immediately following the weekend round with midweek matches bound to increase the excitement.

Inconsistent Burnley take on out-of-form Stoke City on Tuesday looking to notch back-to-back wins for the first time in a month’s time.

Burnley

Sean Dyche’s charges have been alternating between wins and losses over the past five Premier League rounds, struggling to gain consistency that would have allowed them to make even bigger impression this season.

The Clarets are siting in respectable seventh place in the standings with 28 points next to their name, only two away from the Champions League places. This season’s achievement is more remarkable having in mind that Burnley are one of the least efficient and prolific teams in the league with only 15 goals scored thus far. On the other side, their defence record is commendable and 12 conceded goals stand as a testament of their resilience.  Burnley are coming from a hard-fought home victory over Watford this weekend. The Clarets did play against ten men for the big part of the game but that won’t diminish the importance of the triumph. The Clarets now head into Stoke City clash keen to notch successive wins for the first time in a month and given their fine home record they have a great chance of succeeding.

Team News

Sean Dyche has a long list of absentees ahead of the Stoke City visit. Brady, Heaton, Walters, Lowton and Marney are all set to miss the match due to injuries and lack of match fitness.

On a positive note, the stand-in skipper Ben Mee is expected to be in contention after missing the Saturday’s victory over Watford.

Stoke City

With only the three-point advantage over the relegation strugglers, Stoke City are going through a difficult period of the season.

The Potters suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday and risk dropping further down the standings in case they fail to get anything out of their trip to Turf Moor. Stoke conceded four goals in little over 20 minutes against Spurs to eventually lose 5-1 and it’s now back to the drawing board for Mark Hughes ahead of the Burnley match. The Tottenham defeat could have been even more frustrating hadn’t it been for the heroics of Jack Butland who put in a brilliant performance under the circumstances. Stoke City conceded 35 goals in 16 Premier League fixtures and the under-fire manager will need to chance his approach if he’s to survive the cut.

Team News

Geoff Cameron, Peter Crouch and Charley Adam could all be recalled at Turf Moor.

Steven Ireland remains sidelined with a broken leg whereas Bruno Martins Indi is suffering from a groin injury. Jese is out of contention as well.

Key Factors to Consider

• Burnley only scored 15 goals in 16 EPL matches
• The Clarets conceded 12 during the same period
• Stoke City allowed whopping 35 goals in the league
• The Potters won only one of their away matches this season
• The Clarets won 3 of the last 4 matches at Turf Moor

Conclusion

Burnley know that a win over Stoke City would push them even closer to European places and will be extremely motivated to notch second win on the trot against out-of-sorts Potters.

Verdict: Home Win

Best Odds: 13/10

Bookmaker: 888sport