Southampton vs. Burnley: Opposition threat
By Edward Waugh
The Saints look to start their campaign with a bang this Sunday, playing host to one of the Premier League’s Europa League sides in Burnley at St. Mary’s.
Southampton come into this fixture having had a rocky pre-season, which saw some impressive wins against the likes of Dijon and Celta Vigo, the latter being a 3-2 comeback-victory that showed real character – whilst simultaneously slipping to defeat against the likes of Derby County and Borussia Monchengladbach, 3-0 in each game.
It is therefore quite hard to grasp how Mark Hughes’ men will fair this season based off these results, though what is for certain is the understanding to which the club won’t want to have a repeat of the last campaign, which nearly saw the Saints sleepwalk into England’s second tier of football.
On the other end of the spectrum, Burnley arrive down on the south coast in what will be their fourth competitive game of the campaign – having had to play Scottish side Aberdeen twice, and Turkey’s İstanbul Başakşehir once due to having to play in Europa League qualifiers, less than 48 hours before this weekend’s clash.
This could be considered a massive disadvantage for the Clarets, not having had enough time to rest for the fixture, however arguably they are also more match fit than the Saints, who’s real first challenge is presented in this game. So who are Burnley’s biggest threats going into this game?