Burnley will be hosting Patrick Viera’s Crystal Palace at Turf Moor for Matchday 12 of the 2021-22 Premier League season. The Clarets are currently inside the relegation zone at 18th, with just eight points from their 11 games. They have won only one game and drew five, and are two points away from safety, with Watford at 17th with 10 points. Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have had a decent start to the season and are currently 10th in the standings with 15 points. They have won three games and lost just two while having drawn the other six. In this post, we will use both teams’ stats to preview the game between the Clarets and the Eagles.
In terms of recent form, Burney should feel better as a club after getting their first win of the season against Brentford at the end of October and playing a draw against league leaders Chelsea in the game before the international break. Viera’s Crystal Palace are on a great run, and have been undefeated for the past six games, with their last defeat coming against Liverpool in mid-September. They have won their most recent two games against Man City and Wolves, both with a scoreline of 2-0.
The above viz shows the xG value for all the teams in the Premier League. One can notice that both Burnley and Crystal Palace have similar xG values. Burnley’s xG so far has been 14.30, which is only more than six other teams. The Clarets have only managed to score 11 goals and have underachieved this xG. Maxwell Cornet has been their top scorer with four goals in the league. Crystal Palace have had an xG of around 13, but they have overachieved it by scoring 15 goals, and both Conor Gallagher and Zaha have scored four goals each for them.
Here, in the viz, we can see the xGA(expected goals against) per 90 minutes value for all teams in the Premier League. A lower value of xGA would mean that a team has been better at defending. Burnley have had an xGA per 90 of 1.54 and an overall xGA of 18.29, conceding just 17 goals. The Eagles’ xGA value has been around 15 and they have conceded 14 goals in 11 games. Defensively, both teams have been decent, but it will be the attack that will prove to be the difference in the game.
The above viz shows the total number of crosses put in by all the teams in the league. One can notice that Burnley have the third-highest number of crosses, while Palace have the third-lowest. Burnley like to use their strikers’ height and put in a lot of crosses, while Viera has made the Eagles play a different brand of football.
The match will be very interesting between the two teams, as Burnley will look to pick up a win to try and get out of the relegation zone, while Crystal Palace will hope to keep their good run of games going. We predict this game to end in an eventful 2-2 draw.
Burnley’s possible starting lineup(4-4-2):
GK: Nick Pope; RB: Matthew Lowton, CBs: James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, LB: Charlie Taylor; RM: Johann Gudmundsson, CM: Jack Cork, Ashley Westwood, LM: Dwight McNeil; CFs: Maxwell Cornet, Chris Wood
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup(4-3-3):
GK: Guaita; RB: Joel Ward, CBs: Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, LB: Tyrick Mitchell; RM: Conor Gallagher, CM: Kouyate, LM: James McArthur; RW: Wilfred Zaha, ST: Christian Benteke, LW: Odsonne Edouard
