Brighton may give their European probabilities a significant enhance on Saturday, as they face Burnley at Turf Moor (15:00 BST) within the Premier League.
The Seagulls have bounced again properly in latest weeks after a troublesome begin to the calendar yr. Any slender issues round relegation have been banished by a run of 4 wins in 5 video games, together with a formidable 2-1 win towards Liverpool final outing. They go into the weekend in tenth, simply three factors off the highest seven.
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As for Burnley, they’re 10 factors from security with seven matches to play. It might take a outstanding turnaround in type for Scott Parker’s facet to tug themselves again into rivalry to remain up.
Burnley battling the inevitable
After a run of three attracts and a win in all competitions in January, there was a small sense of Burnley constructing momentum. However their subsequent failure to kick on means relegation is sort of sure at this stage.
Parker has been unable to discover a system that works at both finish of the pitch this season. Up prime, they’ve sometimes clicked into gear – albeit they’ve had the fewest pictures (excluding blocked efforts) within the Premier League this season – however on the again they’ve constantly leaked targets.
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Their whole of 61 targets conceded is the very best of any staff going into the weekend fixtures and when it comes to model, Brighton don’t look like a great match up.
The Seagulls rank first for prime turnovers and solely Tottenham Hotspur have confronted extra excessive turnovers than Burnley this season.
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Nonetheless, up to now this fixture has been tight. Seven of the 13 Premier League conferences between Burnley and Brighton have been drawn, with each side profitable three. However at this stage, it appears like solely wins will do for the Clarets.
Brighton bounce again
Losses to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in February felt like they may have been the start of the tip for Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton, with supporters sad and the staff toiling. However they’ve recovered fantastically.
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A 2-0 win at Brentford sparked a significant turnaround in fortunes, and such is the congested nature of the desk that the Seagulls are immediately properly within the combine for a European place.
The staff have positively tightened up in that point and have relied on the scoring exploits of Danny Welbeck to provide them an edge. His brace towards Liverpool took him to 12 targets for the season, one behind Glenn Murray’s Premier League file for Brighton of 13.
Welbeck can also be having fun with probably the most prolific seasons for a participant of his age in Premier League historical past.
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Brighton have additionally relied on a veteran in midfield. James Milner began his first recreation of the calendar yr within the slim loss to Villa and has been within the XI for all 4 of the wins throughout the previous 5 video games; he missed the one defeat in that run, towards Arsenal.
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Whereas there has naturally been loads of give attention to Milner just lately breaking the Premier League look file, he can nonetheless have an effect on video games too and may nonetheless combine it bodily as a 40-year-old.
Within the first three of these begins he coated 11.63 km towards Brentford, 11.4 km towards Nottingham Forest and 11.94 km towards Sunderland, the fourth, third and second highest in every fixture respectively.