Burnley 1-0 Newcastle
Goals: Chris Wood (£6.2m)
Assists: Ashley Westwood (£5.4m)
Bonus Points: Wood x3, Westwood x2, Erik Pieters x1 (£4.5m)
Burnley got back to much-needed winning ways with a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.
While Sean Dyche celebrated the first three-points since Gameweek 13, the crucial development for Fantasy Premier League managers was a return to normal service: clean sheets at Turf Moor.
“We wanted a reaction to the defeat at Tottenham last week, when we weren’t ourselves. The first thing was the performance, but you also want the win and we’ve just about edged that, I feel. We’ve had a one v one and knocked on the door a few times. I was pleased with the performance actually because they are a tough side. Steve (Bruce) has got them organised and they are solid, so to get the win was very pleasing.” – Sean Dyche
“A clean sheet and three points are what you dream of. It was a difficult game in difficult conditions but one we came through. We knew they are a good outfit who’ve had some positive results in recent weeks. But we fancy ourselves at home against anybody.” – Phil Bardsley
The latest home shut-out means that Nick Pope (£4.7m) and his colleagues at the back continue to offer reliable defensive returns against the so-called lesser sides when playing in front of their own fans.
So far this season, six clubs have to Turf Moor who finished outside the top-six in 2018/19. Newcastle’s blank means that Crystal Palace are the only such side to have actually scored in Lancashire; the Magpies, West Ham, Everton, Norwich and Southampton all failing to find the net there.
Whether such a statistic will benefit Pope, James Tarkowski (£5.1m) and Ben Mee (£5.0m) over Christmas and into the New Year remains to be seen though.
Between now and Gameweek 25, the Clarets face Bournemouth, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United away from home, while Aston Villa, Leicester, Arsenal and Manchester United are the next four to come to Turf Moor.
Burnley have just one clean sheet on the road this season, while last season’s top-six sides have scored a combined 16 goals in four matches at Turf Moor in 2019/20.
It is also fair to point out that Burnley’s latest clean sheet was helped out by an increasing number of injuries at Newcastle.
The Magpies came to the Lancashire without Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.4m), whose pace has caused problems recent, Miguel Almirón (£5.8m) and Jonjo Shelvey (£5.1m), who has three goals to his name since Gameweek 14.
“Almiron more than Shelvey. Muscle injuries. We’ve just got to be careful. We run the risk, if they’ve got a slight strain or whatever. We can’t have them pulling up and missing six to eight weeks. Let’s see where they are in the week and we’ll go from there.” – Steve Bruce
Without the pace and creativity of those players in midfield, it was hard for Newcastle to create many chances.
Furthermore, with Christian Atsu (£5.4m) the only fit recognised wide-player, Steve Bruce was forced to shift centre-forward Joelinton (£5.6m) onto the right-flank of midfield in his 5-4-1 formation with Andy Carroll (£5.4m) leading the line.
If Newcastle have the same limitations over Christmas, which looks likely given the current status of Saint-Maximin, Almirón and Shelvey, it bodes well for defensive assets of Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Everton and Leicester, who all face Newcastle between now and Gameweek 21.
“Almiron and Shelvey and Saint-Maximin affected it, of course. I never really want to make excuses but of course, that’s why I want a bigger squad. I’ve used the full squad today and they weren’t quite good enough but I thought we didn’t do much wrong.” – Steve Bruce
By contrast, Burnley were helped by an influx of players returning from injury.
Phil Bardsley (£4.3m) overcame his yellow flag to start at right-back in the place of Matt Lowton (£4.4m).
After three matches out, Ashley Westwood (£5.4m) was back in central midfield alongside Jack Cork (£4.9m) and Ashley Barnes (£6.2m) started next to Chris Wood (£6.2m) up-front in the 4-4-2 system.
“The players coming back did make a difference. I’m not doing the other players down because we have a good and competitive squad this year. We don’t carry big numbers so when you carry a few injuries it does look a bit thin, all of a sudden, but there was a reaction to them coming back and it’s a great three points.” – Sean Dyche
Wood got back on the scoresheet for Burnley, having gone three matches without a goal. However, with those tough fixtures approaching, he may prove less appealing than a number of alternative similarly-priced forwards.
Burnley XI (4-4-2): Pope; Pieters, Mee, Tarkowski, Bardsley; McNeil, Cork, Westwood, Hendrick; Wood (Rodriguez 85′), A Barnes.
Newcastle United XI (5-4-1): Dúbravka; Willems (Gayle 71′), Dummett, Fernández, Schär, Manquillo; Joelinton, Hayden, S Longstaff, Atsu (Muto 80′); Carroll.
