Burnley vs Luton Town: Who is going to shine this weekend?

On Friday evening at Turf Moor starts the weekend in the Premier League with a game between Burnley and Luton Town. Both teams had problems with the FA Cup recently. 1 Burnley lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur, and Luton Town had a replay against Bolton Wanderers.

They lost both games. In the second match against Tottenham, Burnley played quite well at first because of a great defensive job by Vincent Kompany. 78th minute however, Pedro Porro of Tottenham scored an amazing shot from outside the course, sending Burnley out of FA Cup as it was their third straight defeat.

The team of Kompany was hammered 5-2 by Tottenham in September, but he saw positive remarks about their performances lately. From now on, Burnley will only concentrate on the rest of this season’s Premier League played matches.

Burnley is likely to finish at 19th place on the Premier League’s ladder even though whatever happens this week with a shortened sequence of games entered for the league. Their upcoming opponent, Luton, has four more points and the bottom-placed team gets a free weekend this time around.

Burnley was able to secure a big win over Sheffield United in December but has since then struggled at home with two losses by 2-0 past Everton and Liverpool. If they lose their next home game, they will tie a pretty lousy record of losing 10 out of their first 11 home games in one season. The Newport County football team that performed badly in English Football League during 1970-71 is the only one so far.

Team News: Burnley vs Luton Town

Burnley did not go very far in the FA Cup, but Luton will carry on playing in this prestigious competition. There was much feeling of disappointment as Rob Edwards’s team had to contend with a difficult match at home against Bolton Wanderers this League One high-flyers.

Luton, that had 63% of the possession and made 18 shots on goal, couldn’t break through Bolton Wanderers strong defense. If they fail to turnaround and make a comeback in the struggle to prevent relegation, Luton may end up competing with Bolton Wanderers under Championship next season.

Luton has the opportunity to escape from the bottom of Premier league before its FA Cup replay for next Tuesday. 2 out of their last 3 top-flight games have been won they defeated Newcastle United as well as Sheffield United but fell short against Chelsea in a goal frenzy match.

On February 2, Luton and Everton are only a point apart, but Luton has one less game to play. On the other hand, Luton has failed to keep a clean sheet in away games in Premier League for some time now and they have not performed well against their next opponent.

Burnley has gone seven games undefeated by Luton, including a 2-1 win at the guest’s stadium in October. Otherwise, when Burnley is playing at home, it has not won Luton in any of their last seven matches since the time that Luton last losing at Turf Moor way back in 1995.

Burnley had some fresh injury woes after losing to Tottenham in their FA Cup. Lyle Foster had to leave the field before halftime due to an injured ankle, and Charlie Taylor left in the second half due to a chronic shoulder problem. Coach Kompany thinks Foster’s problem is not very big, but Taylor’s shoulder issue keeps bothering him. Or Connor Roberts or Ameen Al-Dakhil can fill in this weekend if necessary.

Luca Koleosho, who has been struggling with a knee injury for some time now, is out. However, Hjalmar Ekdal and Jordan Beyer may in time recuperate for the crucial bottom-of-the -table match. Sander Berge will return from suspension.

Regarding Luton Town, right-back Issa Kabore is away playing for Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations, and captain Tom Lockyer is still recovering from a cardiac arrest. Players such as Marvelous Nakamba, Reece Burke and Dan Potts are unlikely to be fit enough to play this weekend. Carlton Morris had a calf problem in the Bolton match, but it is hoped that he was just cramping and thus available for the game. Jacob Brown and Andros Townsend can also return, but Jacob Brown missed the FA Cup squad.

Possible starting lineups:

Burnley:

• Goalkeeper: Trafford
• Defenders: Vitinho, O'Shea, Beyer, Roberts
• Midfielders: Tresor, Berge, Brownhill, Odobert
• Forwards: Amdouni, Rodriguez

Luton Town:

• Goalkeeper: Kaminski
• Defenders: Osho, Mengi, Bell
• Midfielders: Doughty, Barkley, Lokonga, Giles
• Forwards: Townsend, Adebayo, Brown