The first thing we can do is put to bed the myth that teams have nothing to play for. When a team outside the top six plays a top six side they do have something to play for, they play out of their skin and want to take the scalp of one of the big teams.
Burnley will have that exact mentality tomorrow but how effective have they been against the top six this season at Turf Moor?
Not very well is the answer, however, they did beat Tottenham so they cannot be dismissed out of hand.
This is Burnley’s home record this season against the so-called elite sides.
Lost Man Utd 2-0
Lost Chelsea 4-0
Lost Liverpool 3-1
Won Tottenham 2-1
Lost Man City 1-0
So, apart from that win over Tottenham, who were going through their own rough patch on the road at that time, they tend to lose.
But this is the last home game of the season and for the Clarets they will want to go out with a bang in front of their own fans, they know we are vulnerable on the road and that we had a highly emotional game in Spain on Thursday evening and will believe they can take advantage of that.
Another factor to take note of is that Burnley went through a terrible run and that included most of their losses to the big boys and while they have lost their last two Premier League games they have turned their season around recently with a good run of three wins and a draw at Chelsea prior to those two losses.
In better words, Burnley may have a poor record at home against the top-six this season but they are playing better now, they are at home, they are playing against us when we are tired and emotionally drained and therefore, we can expect a bloody tough game tomorrow.
One thing in our favour though is that we have won our last NINE meetings with the Clarets…