Burnley vs Aston Villa

Turf Moor is the venue as Burnley and Aston Villa meet in their first Premier League showdown since May 2022.

After conquering the Championship in record-matching fashion last season, Burnley’s top-flight return brought them back down to earth as defending Premier League champions Manchester City thrashed them 3-0 on the opening weekend. Ongoing work to revamp Kenilworth Road halted their hopes of bouncing back against fellow newcomers Luton Town as the officials postponed their match-up last week. Vincent Kompany will be keen to get some points on the board on home turf, knowing it took Burnley ten matches to record their first win in their most recent Premier League campaign. However, Aston Villa’s visit to Turf Moor doesn’t bode well, considering the ‘Clarets’ have lost twice in their last three league H2Hs on home turf (W1), conceding multiple goals on all three occasions.

In the meantime, Aston Villa recovered from a thumping 5-1 defeat at Newcastle United on matchday one with an equally impressive 4-0 home win over Everton last weekend. Unai Emery’s side built on their first victory in the 2023/24 Premier League season with an overwhelming 5-0 triumph at Hibernian in midweek Europa Conference League action, putting one foot in the competition’s group stages. But the ‘Lions’ should approach this fixture with cautious optimism after going winless on their last five Premier League travels (D2, L3). It’s also worth noting Villa failed to score more than once in each of those five matches, casting further doubt on their bid to post a first top-flight win on the road since the beginning of April. Emery could offer traveling fans hope, considering he has won all three previous managerial encounters against Burnley.