Southampton v Burnley Preview
Posted on | April 24, 2009 | No Comments
The whole scope for this game has been completely changed with recent events, with Southampton receiving the news that they’ll definitely be playing League One football next season. Saints were imposed a ten point penalty meaning it’s now impossible for them to remain in the division with just two games remaining. Burnley still have everything left to play for though, with the Clarets knowing that victory will mathematically confirm their play off place.
There’s been plenty of speculation about Southampton in recent weeks after their parent company went into administration. The Football League decided to act on Thursday and impose a ten point penalty – although it doesn’t really come into place until the end of the season. The deal is that should they finish in the bottom three, the penalty won’t be invoked until next season. Should they finish above 22nd though, they’ll be given the penalty which would confirm their relegation. This means that they have every incentive to finish the season strongly and stop themselves starting the next campaign with minus ten points. However, with four points separating them from so called safety, it certainly looks a tall order and they could be officially down should results go against them this weekend.
As for Burnley, they look all set to claim the final play off face although mathematically, they could still lose out. The Clarets are sat in 6th position and hold a cushion of four points with just two games remaining. That should see them through and considering their final two games are against sides in poor form, it looks as though their season will definitely be extended. They did their case absolutely no harm on Monday night either by beating automatic chasing Sheffield United 1-0 at home. With those sorts of results in the bag, it looks as though Owen Coyle’s men will head into the play offs with full of confidence which is one of the key ingredients for success at that stage.
On the team news front, Southampton don’t have any new concerns although their growing injury list means they look set to keep an unchanged side from last week. Matt Paterson, Jamie White, Simon Gillett, Michael Svensson and Anthony Pulis will all not be risked as they recover from their respective injuries. Burnley don’t have much to report with Stephen Thompson being the only concern. The former Cardiff man has been out with an ankle injury for the past few weeks, yet he has an outside chance of being fit for this one and will be assessed at the last minute.
Burnley may have put together some good results recently and look destined for a top six finish, but we think Southampton could respond well to Thursday’s news. Their players will be desperate not to start next season in the negative and they’ll know that to achieve that, they must win their last two. With that, we predict a narrow 1-0 win for Saints.
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- Burnley v Southampton Preview
- QPR v Burnley Preview
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- Plymouth v Burnley Preview
- Burnley v Reading Preview
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