Burnley seemed down and out when the season started. Now, they have won two straight and are surging up the table.
Sean Dyche and Burnley have won two straight in the Premier League after a 2-1 win over Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium in Wales. The win puts Burnley in 12th-place on seven points, just two weeks after they were last in the table. Cardiff has yet to win a game in their return to the Premier League and sit in 19th ahead of Huddersfield on goal difference.
The match was almost all Cardiff as they had 54% possession had got 19 shots with five going towards Joe Hart’s net. Cardiff’s lone goal came nine minutes after Burnley took the lead through Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s goal when Josh Murphy equalized. Burnley then sealed it in the 70th minute with Welshman Sam Vokes scoring in his home country and getting his first this season.
Burnley burn-out is over
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With a 4-0 win over Bournemouth and this away points against Cardiff, Burnley is quickly back in a mid-table position most expected them to be at. At this time in August, the Clarets were in four competitions and playing two games a week. With October about to begin, Burnley will only play games in the Premier League for the next three months before the FA Cup starts.
Losing in the Europa League and the Carabao Cup has its benefits. The downside is Burnley doesn’t get a European competition to play in and were eliminated by a team in League 1. The positive is they can just focus on staying in the league and it’s exactly what they needed. Burnley hosts Huddersfield next Saturday.
Cardiff is fighting against mid-table competition
Cardiff’s goal difference is terrible because of their lopsided losses to top-six clubs. The other four games they have played in, they have been competitive. Two 0-0 draws against the other two clubs in the relegation zone with them (Newcastle and Huddersfield) and losses to Bournemouth and Burnley by close margins. Not all is bad at Cardiff.
The offense is the weak point. Having only 26% of 19 total shots be on-target will not get you goals and that is this team’s struggle against competition they can realistically play tough against. Next week is a trip to Wembley to play Tottenham and if their track-record against top-six continues, it could be another long night for Neil Warnock and the Bluebirds.