Premier League 2016-17 preview, predictions: No. 19, Burnley
With the 2016-17 Premier League season kicking off this weekend, FC Yahoo is rolling out previews for all 20 teams. We’ll be working our way up from the bottom of our predicted table, all the way to the champions.
Last season: Despite losing top players like Danny Ings (to Liverpool) and Kieran Trippier (to Tottenham), Burnley stormed back to the top flight with a remarkable late-season surge. A 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at Hull left Sean Dyche’s side in fifth place and falling, but the Clarets went unbeaten over their final 23 league games to top the table and win promotion.
What’s changed: Dyche hasn’t been too active in the transfer market. He’s shelled out meager sums for two Charlton players — one being Iceland winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson — and re-signed Liverpool fullback Jon Flanagan on loan, but that’s about it. The two notable departures are Joey Barton, who started 37 league games a year ago, and Matt Taylor, a 34-year-old Premier League veteran who made 26 substitute appearances last season.
FC YAHOO TAKE
Joey Gulino: Let’s be realistic: if Burnley stays up, it’ll be a close call. That in itself, however, is not an unrealistic expectation. There’s been a lot of changeover in the Premier League, both with the big clubs and the mid-table sides, and there’s something to be said for the familiar, hunkered-down mentality Burnley will bring back with it to the top flight. Andre Gray and Michael Keane are studs, and charming little Turf Moor can be a tough place for visitors to grind out points. For the first time ever, Burnley will earn consecutive seasons of Premier League football.
Henry Bushnell: Burnley has now been promoted to the Premier League three times. In 2009-10 and 2014-15, one year was enough to send the club tumbling back down to the Championship. I’m worried that the lessons of those two seasons haven’t been learned. The approach heading into each was, “let’s ride the players that got us here.” That can work, but it hasn’t worked for Burnley. Especially with so much money flooding into the Premier League, it’s tough to see it suddenly working on the third attempt.
Bookmakers say: Point total over/under: 34.5 | Title odds: 1000/1 | Relegation odds: 1/1
FC YAHOO PREDICTIONS
Shahan Ahmed: 19 | Ryan Bailey: 18 | Alex Baker: 19 | Henry Bushnell: 19 | Joey Gulino: 17 | Joe Lago: 19 | Leander Schaerlaeckens: 19 | Average: 18.6 (19th)
More Previews
Arsenal | Bournemouth | Burnley | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Hull City | Leicester City | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Middlesbrough | Southampton | Stoke City | Sunderland | Swansea City | Tottenham | Watford | West Brom | West Ham
