Everton vs Burnley preview, team news, tickets, and prediction

All eyes turn to the bottom of the Premier League table for the 6th of April clash of Everton vs Burnley in this relegation 6 pointer.

Everton have not had the best of seasons so far in the Premier League. The Toffees have been distracted by off-field issues, suffering points deduction earlier in the season for breaching FFP guidelines. While their inability to stick the ball in the back of the net has undoubtedly contributed to their woes this campaign, but Sean Dyche’s teams are not known for their attacking style of play.

Just ask his former club Burnley, who in the decade he was in charge yo-yo’d between the divisions on the back of solid defensive play. He was replaced by Vincent Kompany, who won Championship manager of the season as his side won the title with 101 points.

But Burnley are in danger of an immediate return to the EFL Championship if they fail to turn their fortunes around in the remainder of this season. This is despite playing better football worthy of them staying up.

Everton acquired the services of new talents in a bid to bolster their ranks, signing Beto from Italian club side Udinese Calcio, and Chermiti from Portuguese giants Sporting CP. Arnaut Danjuma joined on loan from Villarreal while Ashley Young and Jack Harrison joined from Aston Villa and Leeds United respectively on free transfers.

The Toffees also let go of some notable names over the summer with the likes of Moise Kean leaving for Serie A giants Juventus, Nigerian midfielder Alex Iwobi joining Fulham and Demarai Gray crossing continents to join Al-Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia. Neal Maupay and Mason Holgate sealed loan moves away to Brentford and Southampton respectively while Tom Davies, Asmir Begovic and Yerry Mina all departed for Sheffield United, QPR, and Fiorentina respectively on free transfers.

Burnley were quite busy in terms of player acquisitions during the transfer window. The Clarets brought in centre-forward Zeki Amdouni from Swiss club side Basel, English young and exciting talents James Trafford from Manchester City and Aaron Ramsey from Aston Villa.

They also swelled the ranks with Jordan Beyer from Bundesliga side Borussia M’gladbach, Norwegian midfielder Sander Berge from Sheffield United, Luka Koleosho from RCD Espanyol B, Wilson Odobert from Estac Troyes, Irish centre-back Dara O’Shea from West Bromwich Albion, Michael Obafemi from Swansea and Hannes Delcroix from Belgian side RSC Anderlecht.

Other signings include Nathan Redmond on a free transfer from Turkish side Besiktas and Mike Tresor who signed on loan from KRC Genk.

Departures from the ranks of the Clarets include Bobby Thomas to Coventry, Wout Weghorst on loan to TSG Hoffenheim with Ashley Barnes and Will Norris joining Norwich and Portsmouth respectively on free transfers.

Everton have not got going this season in the Premier League. The Merseyside outfit has been plagued by both on-field and off-field challenges and they seem to be folding underneath all the issues. The Toffees suffered points deduction earlier in the season as a penalty for breaching Financial Fair Play rules, however, their form on the pitch has done little to help their cause.

They occupy 16th place on the PL table with 25 points from 28 games. Sean Dyche’s men have been defensively impressive at times this season but their profligacy in front of goal may eventually cost them their premier league status.

The Toffees are winless in their last five Premier League matches, only managing two draws and losing the other three matches. This disappointing run of results started against PL champions Man City in a 2-0 defeat, after which they played out back-to-back 1-1 draws against Crystal Palace and Brighton before suffering consecutive defeats at the hands of West Ham and Man United respectively.

The big issue has been the lack of fire power. Midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure is the top scorer with six goals, and strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto have just four a piece from 30 games each. The Portuguese attacker has a shot accuracy of just 28%.

No doubt envious eyes will be on January loan signing David Datro Fofana from Chelsea, who not only has four goals in eight games, but his shot accuracy of 67% is just behind Doucoure on 68%.

Burnley endured a nightmare start to their season after failing to win a single game from their first five of this season. The Clarets are in desperate need of a change in fortunes as their terrible form in the PL this season has left them second from the bottom of the league standings, kept up by whipping boys Sheffield United.

A record of 4 wins, 5 draws, and 20 losses sums up their 17 points tally at the time of writing, and five points from safety. They have scored 29 goals, the joint second least in the league while conceding 63 goals, the second highest in the league.

The Clarets have been disappointing for most parts of this Premier League campaign and their results from recent games perfectly mirror their terrible form in the league as they are winless in their last five Premier League matches, managing just 1 draw and suffering 3 defeats before their recent win.

A run of four consecutive defeats against Liverpool, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, and Bournemouth was eventually ended with a spirited performance away at the London Stadium that saw them play out a 2-2 with West Ham United, before a morale boosting win against 2-1 Brentford.

Current Form and Past Meetings

Both sides have a tricky away game this weekend, but Burnley won’t get much change out of Chelsea, so Everton could stretch their lead beyond the current 8 points. Then midweek the Toffees have another difficult trip to Newcastle, while the Clarets have a chance of a win at home to Wolves.

Everton

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Burnley

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Statistics reveal that Everton and Burnley have met on 18 occasions in the past. The Toffees have won 10 of those meetings (scoring 31 goals) while The Clarets have won 7 of the meetings (scoring 17 goals) with 1 draw between the teams.

This season, Everton has triumphed both times, 2-0 at Turf Moor back in December, and 3-0 at Goodison in the EFL.

Match tickets

The epic match at Goodison Park in Liverpool kicks off on Saturday, 6th of April 2024 at 15:00 GMT.

The magnificent 39,572-capacity stadium will host this relegation six-pointer.

Getting tickets for the Everton vs Burnley tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.

Team news

Injury absentees for Everton include Idrissa Gana Gueye (groin), Dele Alli (hip), and Arnaut Danjuma (leg).

Potential Line-ups

Everton: Pickford, Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Godfrey, Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil, Doucouré, Beto

Injury absentees for The Clarets include Nathan Redmond (knee), Lyle Foster (strain), Luca Koleosho (knee), Jordan Beyer (physical discomfort), Aaron Ramsey (ACL).

Burnley: Trafford, Taylor, Estève, O’Shea, Assignon, Larsen, Cullen, Berge, Vitinho, Odobert, Fofana

Prediction

The Toffees have a direct pattern of play, launching long balls forward from their goalkeeper into their center-forward and hoping to progress quickly into dangerous positions in the opposition box from such situations while Burnley, under Vincent Kompany’s instructions play a much more attractive, possession-based style of football.

If Sean Dyche’s men can find their scoring boots, we expect the Toffees to come out on top of this one. But that’s a big IF, and if they can’t do it against the second worst defence in the Premier League then the Toffees will probably be looking at where they can pick up points.

Last time I previewed a Burnley game, I predicted they would lose to Chelsea 3-0, so we’ll see how I get on after Easter.

Everton 3-1 Burnley