Burnley-Norwich City Preview


With two matches remaining on this topsy-turvy Premier League season, Burnley are looking to remain in the top-half of the table.

The visiting Clarets aim to extend their league unbeaten stretch to seven consecutive matches on Saturday against relegated Norwich City at Carrow Road.

At the moment, Burnley (14-9-13) sit 10th in the table and in good shape to stay there when the league finally concludes later this month. The good news for the Clarets is that they are playing well enough to make that happen.

Since that 5-0 drubbing at Manchester City on June 22, in the Premier League's return to action, Burnley are 3-3-0. They've scored one goal in each match over those six contests and conceded three overall.

Chris Wood's successful penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time - off a somewhat questionable infraction - enabled Burnley to salvage a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Wednesday.

"We fight until the end and never give up," Wood told Burnley's official website. "That's the main thing about us, and that's what we're so good at. That's the best thing about this club and this team. We fight to the end.

"It's going to take a miracle (to reach European competition), but we've put ourselves in a great position, and a top-half finish would be an amazing achievement."

Wood scored two of his team-leading 12 goals during a 2-0 victory over Norwich on Sept. 21.

That seemed like ages ago for Norwich (5-6-25), who stunned Manchester City with a 3-2 win days prior to the Burnley defeat. It's been nothing but struggles since for the Canaries, who will head right back down to the Championship as they sit last in the table on a mere 21 points.

Norwich dropped their eighth top-flight contest in a row on Tuesday, 1-0 at Chelsea. The Canaries have managed just one goal during their losing streak, and only two over a 1-1-10 span since the first day of February.

Whilst some might assume Norwich are simply going through the motions, playing out the season, manager Daniel Farke claims he's doing his best to make sure his club at least shows the appearance of trying to finish strong.

A notion that does not seem easy to accomplish at the moment.

"Once relegation is confirmed, you feel pain," Farke told Norwich City's official website. "But, I'm in leading role and have to be a role model. It's important to show character and personality in these moments. Not just because it's our job, but to show class even in difficult times. I want us to go out on the pitch to represent the yellow shirt."

Norwich's Teemu Pukki has not scored any of his team-leading 11 goals over the last 12 contests. However, it's uncertain how much time he will see in this final two matches.