Manchester United vs Burnley
Manchester United will be looking to close out a turbulent 2021 on a high when they take on relegation-threatened Burnley at Old Trafford in their final Premier League fixture of the calendar year.
Manchester United’s mini-revival in the wake of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking sees them go into proceedings in the midst of a five-game unbeaten Premier League run (W3, D2). After navigating United to a brace of 1-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich City, new interim boss Ralf Rangnick failed to beat relegation-battling Newcastle United last time out, managing an underwhelming 1-1 draw. Rangnick wasted a golden opportunity to become the first-ever ‘Red Devils’ manager to keep a clean sheet in his first three league matches in charge. However, United’s fragile defense has improved under the German’s stewardship. The abovementioned victory over Palace in their most recent Premier League outing at Old Trafford marked their first top-flight clean sheet at home in 13 matches. But it’s worth noting that they conceded an alarming 22 goals across their previous 12 Premier League fixtures on home soil.
Man United’s ongoing problems could inspire Burnley’s bid to rack up only their second-ever Premier League win over the ‘Red Devils’ at 14th attempt (W1, D4, L8). Notably, though, before falling to a 3-1 defeat in their most recent top-flight visit to Old Trafford, the ‘Clarets’ went unbeaten in their four Premier League matches here beforehand (W1, D3). By contrast, Sean Dyche’s men take the field as one of just two Premier League sides yet to taste victory on foreign turf this season (D4, L4), netting a measly average of 0.75 goals per match in the process. A lack of firepower up front has seen Burnley draw a blank in each of their last three Premier League matches, last going four top-flight games without scoring in November 2020. Yet, if they get on the scoresheet here, the visitors are likely to do it before half-time, as nine (64%) of their 14 Premier League goals this season have come in the first half of play.
