by Bulldog Drummond
Burnley’s results are slightly worse than Arsenal’s this season in the sense that they knocked up a 1-1 draw with Leeds and haven’t won any games in the league. Like Arsenal they got through the League Cup away from home although only on penalties, and otherwise the two clubs have both been having a bit of a rough time: Burnley being still without a win in the League, but having drawn one game, losing the rest.
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 2021 | Burnley v Brighton and Hove Albion | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 21 Aug 2021 | Liverpool v Burnley | L | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 25 Aug 2021 | Newcastle United v Burnley | W(pen) | 0-0 (3-4) | League Cup |
| 29 Aug 2021 | Burnley v Leeds United | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 13 Sep 2021 | Everton v Burnley | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
So yes, although it is nothing to write home about, or indeed mention down the pub, we are above them in the league. Here’s the foot of the table…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 14 | Southampton | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| 15 | Watford | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 3 |
| 16 | Arsenal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | -8 | 3 |
| 17 | Leeds United | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 2 |
| 18 | Burnley | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 1 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 1 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 | -10 | 0 |
Obviously what we need is another win to take us up to the giddy heights of six points, and start reducing that minus 8 figure in the goal difference column. A solid 0-4 would help quite a lot.
There was however a significant difference between the two teams at the end of last season…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Apr 2021 | Southampton v Burnley | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2021 | Burnley v Newcastle United | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 18 Apr 2021 | Manchester United v Burnley | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 25 Apr 2021 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley | W | 0-4 | Premier League |
| 03 May 2021 | Burnley v West Ham United | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 10 May 2021 | Fulham v Burnley | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 15 May 2021 | Burnley v Leeds United | L | 0-4 | Premier League |
| 19 May 2021 | Burnley v Liverpool | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 23 May 2021 | Sheffield United v Burnley | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
Seven defeats and two wins in the games through April and May for Burnley, with 12 goals scored and 18 conceded.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Liverpool | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2021 | Sheffield United v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 18 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Fulham | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Everton | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 02 May 2021 | Newcastle United v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 09 May 2021 | Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 12 May 2021 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 19 May 2021 | Crystal Palace v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 23 May 2021 | Arsenal v Brighton and Hove Albion | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
Six wins, one draw and two defeats for Arsenal with 15 goals scored and seven conceded. Burnley’s poor run did not take them down, but it was hardly a time of great promise for them…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Arsenal | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | 16 | 61 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 62 | 54 | 8 | 59 |
| 10 | Everton | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 48 | -1 | 59 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 55 | 46 | 9 | 55 |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 62 | -16 | 45 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 52 | -16 | 45 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 41 | 66 | -25 | 44 |
| 15 | Southampton | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 47 | 68 | -21 | 43 |
| 16 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 40 | 46 | -6 | 41 |
| 17 | Burnley | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 33 | 55 | -22 | 39 |
| 18 | Fulham | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 53 | -26 | 28 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 35 | 76 | -41 | 26 |
| 20 | Sheffield United | 38 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 20 | 63 | -43 | 23 |
Burnley missed relegation by one place, but in fact that was also my 11 points. Perhaps just as interesting as the table is their goal difference; they had a 38 goal difference worse than Arsenal in part made up of scoring 22 goals fewer.
This is Burnley’s fifth successive season in the Premier League which is their longest spell in the top league. As recently as 1992 they were in the fourth tier of English football. Their best position in the Premier League was 2017/18 when they came 7th as a result of which they entered the europa league. They were knocked out in the final qualifying round by Olympiacos and so did not make it to the group stages. Otherwise in the league it has been 10th or below.
But they have won the League twice (1921 and 1960) and the FA Cup once (1914).
As you might expect from this, the head to head is in our favour, 54 wins to us, and 34 to them, 23 of the games being drawn. Indeed we drew one and lost four of the first five matches.
Also between 1958 and 1960 we had a very bad run of five successive defeats in which Burnley scored 18 and Arsenal scored nine. The worst was on 17 December 1960 with the score Arsenal 2 Burnley 5.
Since Burnley returned to the top division it is only in the last three games that we have had any trouble with them with two draws and a defeat. Before that it was ten straight wins.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 2014 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2015 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 30 Jan 2016 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 2-1 | FA Cup |
| 2 Oct 2016 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 22 Jan 2017 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Nov 2017 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 6 May 2018 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 5-0 | Premier League |
| 22 Dec 2018 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 12 May 2019 | Burnley v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 17 Aug 2019 | Arsenal v Burnley | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 2 Feb 2020 | Burnley v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 13 Dec 2020 | Arsenal v Burnley | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 6 Mar 2021 | Burnley v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
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- More anon…
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- Arsenal v Burnley: injuries, home/away stats and crowd influence on refs
