These two sides had excellent results in their respective opening fixtures with Burnley recording a shock win at Chelsea whilst West Bromwich Albion eased past Bournemouth on home territory.
With Burnley having not made many signings, along with the loss of a couple of key players, many fear for the club this campaign and expect them to finish in the bottom three. However, if opening day is anything to go by then they should be fine this season.
Sean Dyche’s side have been known for their defensive steeliness over the last season or so which, unfortunately for them, has tended to negate their performances in the final third. Having said that, this theory was completely turned on its head last Saturday as they scored three first half goals against Chelsea. They did nearly let the Blues back into the game but that solidity once again saw them through.
The Clarets were sublime on home turf last season and at one point had one of the best home records in the division. Unfortunately, though, they only ended up with the ninth-best home record in the top-flight with 33 points taken from 19 outings. This points tally could have been higher had their form at Turf Moor not dropped off towards the end of the campaign – winning just one of their final five games.
As I predicted here, West Brom saw off the challenge of Bournemouth on opening weekend. The question for Albion these days is what are their ambitions? They clearly have enough about them to survive but are they happy with simply sitting in mid-table mediocrity?
Just like Burnley, the Baggies are known for having a stubborn rearguard but tend to offer little in the final third – their 1-0 victory against Bournemouth last weekend was a typical West Brom performance. They do have a few defenders missing, including Manchester City target Jonny Evans, but will still feel they have enough about them to keep out the Burnley attack. Offensively though, there are problems and they still lack a natural goalscorer.
Again like Burnley, Tony Pulis’ side much prefer the comforts of home to a trip away from The Hawthorns. They only picked up 16 points from 19 away games last term and, the fact they have so far failed to win a Premier League match in 2017 does not bode well for Saturday.
Despite the fact they are likely to lack a real goal threat, I think Burnley will continue their good start to the campaign here. Their home form was brilliant last term whilst Albion have historically been bad on their travels. This should be enough to see them through in this close encounter. The price on the home win is 13/8.