English football can be a tricky thing to work around, especially when you compete in the Premier League. It’s considered to be one of the most competitive leagues in the world, both in terms of its entertainment factor and how difficult it is to find consistency. We’ve seen big teams falter and we’ve seen surprise results for over 25 years now, so you’d think nothing would surprise us. While that’s true that doesn’t mean we don’t still get incredibly amped up to see two notable teams go against one another, especially when their backs are against the walls – which is the situation we find ourselves in this weekend.

Burnley and Manchester United are relatively local rivals with just 35 miles or so separating the two, and throughout the course of football history they’ve had a few really important encounters, and this is one of them. Some people may suggest that their recent form will make for a pretty dull encounter, but in our mind, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Playing Premier League football when you’re under the kind of pressure that they are can often lead to some entertaining games, and that’s exactly what we’re expecting to see tomorrow.

The teams from around the league will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on proceedings, with many anticipating a result that could impact the next few weeks, or even months, of competition. That’s because there’s an intense amount of scrutiny on both sets of managers, although, one more so than the other. We’ve all heard the rumours about how long certain people are going to remain in their job, and we’ll get to that, but shouldn’t these guys be given more time in order to further build their legacies?

It may sound a little bit ‘played out’ or as if we’re on the payroll for the league, but it’s true. Of course, we’re going to need to provide some context to this, so let’s talk about the two men in question – Sean Dyche and Jose Mourinho.

The first, that some used to ironically call the Ginger Mourinho, is Dyche. To put it frankly he’s done a somewhat miraculous job with the Clarets, guiding them to a point where they probably didn’t think they’d get to: European football. Of course, the fact that their journey in the Europa League is already over doesn’t help his cause, in addition to the fact that they’ve started off poorly in the Premier League. Still, he should have more time to focus on that now Europe is out of the way, although fans will probably be expecting to see immediate results.

Speaking of immediate results – let’s talk a little bit about Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese boss, who has never spent longer than three seasons in charge of any club, seems to be doing everything he can to mastermind a route out of Old Trafford. That may not necessarily be true but it’s coming across that way, from his criticism of the club to United’s recent results. Oh, and it’d be foolish of us to speak about him without referencing that ‘pro wrestling bad guy’ promo he cut in the wake of their defeat against Tottenham. What a guy.

He’s got some work to do if he does actually to stay in the job, because things haven’t gone so well thus far this season. They kicked things off on the opening weekend with a nice win against Leicester City, but even that felt like a result that they managed to pick up by the skin of their teeth. The warning signs really started up in the 3-2 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion, with the ironic thing about the Spurs game being how well they played for the first 45 minutes. Still, football is a game of two halves, and we’ve seen that stereotype become a reality more and more in recent years.

Burnley, on the other hand, have been incredibly busy since way back in late July. They edged their way past Aberdeen to kick off their European journey, before also defeating Istanbul Basaksehir which a lot of people already seem to have forgotten. Alas, it was Olympiakos who used their experience to knock Dyche’s men out, and things haven’t been any better in the league. They followed up their opening fixture draw against Southampton with back to back losses vs Watford and Fulham, both of which were pretty emphatic.

In terms of the head to head, though, it’s actually a little bit more even than most people would’ve initially thought. United lead 60-44 in the overall standings with 22 draws between them, dating all the way back to 1892. If we’re talking about recent showdowns, though, United won the latest local derby between them 1-0 back in January.

Dyche has always been a creature of habit and because of that, it’ll likely come as something of a frustration that he has to change his starting line-up with Johann Berg Gudmundsson being out through injury. Dwight McNeil showed some positive signs against Olympiakos which may warrant a start in this one, but either way, it feels like we’re going to see some big performances one way or the other.

United’s Phil Jones will, unfortunately, miss out again through injury, after coming off with a hamstring issue against Tottenham. Marcos Rojo isn’t yet available for selection after a summer full of speculation over his future, but in terms of starters, all eyes will turn towards Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian forward had a poor game against Spurs and will be hell-bent on putting things right, with a trip to Turf Moor being a great opportunity to do just that.

Burnley vs Manchester United Betting Prediction

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say this isn’t going to be the most beautiful game of football that you’re ever going to see. It’s going to be scrappy despite the quality these teams possess, and the reason for that is because both sides are in dire need of a big result. Burnley will likely come forward as the home team wanting to make a statement, but as the game goes on, we’re expecting United to take control.

As we said it’s not going to be a wonderful thing to see, but United edging out a 1-0 win is what we’re expecting here. Burnley should be fine in terms of the bigger picture with the relegation battle, but it still doesn’t feel like the Red Devils are bound for a top four finish this season. Either way, we can only hope for some fast-paced football between two clubs that we’d love to see getting back to their best.

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