Premier League: Parker Seeks Refuge in Fulham

Fulham vs Burnley

It’s been a tough old campaign for Scott Parker’s Burnley. The Clarets made it back to the top flight in a blaze of glory last May, racking up 100 points in the Championship, only to be shot down in flames. 

With eight games to play Burnley, currently 19^th in the table, are nine points from safety; they need five wins from their last eight to have any hope of survival, and Premier League: Fulham vs Burnley is not the easiest place to start. But Parker will meet some old friends at Craven Cottage; he led Fulham to promotion back to the Premier League in 2020.

He may receive a warm welcome by the Thames but Parker and his men are unlikely to get an easy ride when they cross the white line on Saturday afternoon; the Cottagers are currently 11^th but only four points behind Brentford in seventh, and two behind Everton in eighth, with both positions likely to earn a place in Europe next term. 

Marco Silva’s Fulham need a win to keep up the pace with the top half of the table while the Clarets may have already passed the point of no return; and the Fulham vs Burnley betting odds say this clash is a home banker. 

 

Talking Points

Europe is now Fulham’s sole aim  

A defeat to Championship side Southampton two weeks ago saw the end of the Cottagers’ FA Cup ambitions and, in so doing, left Silva with one objective, to achieve European football for Fulham for the first time in ten years. It will be a furious race, with only six points separating the Bees in seventh from Crystal Palace in 14^th. It was a similar story last season when Fulham were in the shake up until the very end, but just fell short.

The Cottagers’ visit to Nottingham Forest last week ended in disappointment as they played out a goalless draw, the first time Fulham had drawn a league game since 4^th January, in the meantime winning four and losing five. They have been dogged by inconsistency and lost to West Ham United recently. The last time Fulham picked up a win was against Tottenham Hotspur on 1^st March when Harry Wilson scored in a 2-1 victory, the ninth goal in a superb league season for the Welsh wizard.

Without a goal in three games Fulham will be on the front foot against the Clarets and Wilson, alongside Alex Iwobi, Oscar Bobb and Raul Jimenez will aim to test their visitors to the full.    

 

Clarets first target is to avoid an all-time low

Burnley were relegated in 2023/24 before Parker took over that summer, with a huge rebuilding job to do. The five wins Vincent Kompany’s 23/24 team achieved was the lowest in the club’s 140 year history. To be strictly accurate the Clarets only managed four victories way back in 1890, but then they only played 22 games in a 12 club league.

Parker needs at east one more win and five points from the last eight games to better the efforts of the current Bayern Munich boss, and that is not beyond his team of battlers. Once again, Burnley’s owners spent around £100m over the summer, bringing in a raft of inexperienced players from Europe, as they did in 2023, and with the same result. 

The best players were already at the club last season. Jaidon Anthony and Zian Fleming, with seven goals each are on the Premier League leading scorers list at joint 23^rd and the centre back pairing of Bashir Humphries and Maxime Esteve has been another plus point, as has the skill, passion and aggression of midfield ace Hannibal. If the club can keep hold of these players then I wouldn’t bet against them bouncing back again next season.         

 

History

This SBOTOP writer was at Turf Moor for the return fixture, back in mid December; at a time when the Cottagers were a sitting duck away from home, while the Clarets were in the midst of a season wrecking seven match losing run. Hardly surprisingly Fulham won 3-2 as Burnley gifted them two first half goals.

But the head to head Fulham vs Burnley results make pleasant reading for Clarets fans as the East Lancashire side has won seven to the Londoners’ three of the last 13 meetings. And at Craven Cottage Burnley have picked up four wins from six visits. 

In terms of recent form Fulham are stronger, with three wins, one draw and two defeats from their last six games while Burnley have won one, drawn two and lost three.      

 

Betting Tip

The Cottagers are at odds of 1.50 to win this clash with Burnley at 6.00 and a draw at 3.95. But this is a happy hunting ground for the Clarets and Fulham have gone three games without scoring. I expect a home win but a low scoring one.   

   

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