Preview: Burnley vs Aston Villa – prediction, team news, line-ups

 Burnley will look to get off the Premier League’s early-season relegation spots with a win over Unai Emery’s vibrant side.

2022/23 EFL Championship winners Burnley have returned to the top flight where they expect to face the toughest of challenges on a weekly basis.

Vincent Kompany takes charge of just his second Premier League game after the hostile introduction of a 3-0 thumping at home to his former club, Manchester City.

Although an opening game against the treble winners is the most difficult fixture possible given the sheer quality at the disposal of Pep Guardiola, Burnley will be looking forward to the coming games knowing they can secure some points.

Indeed, the Clarets have had to wait 16 days for this game after the trip to Luton was postponed due to extensive ground improvements to Kenilworth Road not being ready in time for the game.

Having won three of their five pre-season games, the extended buildup will hopefully work wonders ahead of the visit of Aston Villa who Burnley only beat twice in their last 12 meetings.

Of course, that was the Burnley of old as the team are much more attack-minded than the last time they were in the Premier League.

They will surely surprise a few in the opening weeks of the campaign with their front-foot, fearless and pacy football.

Aston Villa ended up on the wrong side of a heavy opening-day defeat to Champions League-bound Newcastle United despite an unbeaten pre-season schedule during which they also drew the Magpies.

An excellent end to the last campaign and an impressive summer of acquisition has led many to believe the Villains will finish high in the Premier League this season.

However, their 5-1 setback at St. James’ Park is a huge reality check and they will look to bounce back against Everton before traveling to Burnley for their first away points of the season. 

Villa have enough reason to expect points against the newly-promoted Clarets after losing just one of their last six meetings with them.

Match tickets

Burnley vs Aston Villa tickets are in high demand. Burnley takes on Aston Villa at Turf Moor on Sunday 27 August 2023 at 2 pm UK time and fans of the Lancashire outfit will be excited for their second consecutive Premier League home game after a year away from the top flight.

There is nothing quite like a Premier League matchday atmosphere as they will have remembered last season.

Tickets for the match have been on sale via each individual club’s website and the game has sold out almost as soon as the fixture was announced. 

Turf Moor will be rocking as they welcome a fellow Claret and Blue side, hence, getting hold of Aston Villa tickets may be difficult because this is an away game and they might be no longer available on official club channels. 

Supporters looking to make the trip to a celebratory atmosphere at Burnley will have to find tickets via a reselling site.

Team news

Nathan Redmond, Sander Berge, Dara O’Shea, Michael Obafemi, Jordan Beyer, James Trafford, Luca Koleosho, and Jacob Bruun Larsen are some of the new faces that joined Burnley over the summer as Kompany seeks to keep them for another season in the league.

Obafemi, who signed from Swansea City, is the only injured player for Burnley while Anass Zaroury is also set to miss out after getting sent off in the late stages of the game against Man City.

Aston Villa have added Pau Torres, Youri Tielemans, and Moussa Diaby to their ranks while Nicolo Zaniolo was signed on loan from Galatasaray after Emi Buendia ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament on the eve of the season.

Tyrone Mings also joins Buendia on the long-term injury list with a devastating knee injury sustained against Newcastle to add to Emery’s growing list of fitness worries.

Leander Dendoncker, Alex Moreno, Jacob Ramsey, Tim Iroegbunam, Bertrand Traore, and Jhon Duran are currently on the treatment table at Bodymoor Heath and will also be ruled out to face Burnley.

Line-ups

The Burnley boss will hope to have added a few more quality signings to bolster his young squad by the time this game kicks off.

Although they blew teams away in the Championship last term, their relative inexperience at the top level could prove a hindrance to their hopes.

Nevertheless, Kompany will be trusting whatever team he puts out as they are well capable of causing a few upsets this season. Burnley could return to the manager’s preferred 4-2-3-1 shape that served them so well last term.

Burnley: Trafford; Roberts, O’Shea, Al-Dakhil, Vitinho; Berge, Cullen; Koleosho, Bruun Larsen, Foster; Amdouni

Aston Villa have superior firepower and should dominate this match being the more experienced side, however, Burnley possesses a considerable threat and their attacking might is yet to fully be tested having spent most of the City game defending. 

Emery will be hoping to get his team to put the hosts on the back foot early on and stamp their authority by creating dangerous chances for the likes of Wakins and Diaby.

The Clarets will do well to upset Villa and keep Watkins, who has scored twice in the last three games against Burnley, quiet.

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Luiz; McGinn, Bailey, Diaby, Watkins

Prediction

Goals follow Aston Villa wherever they go as each of their last four league games have yielded at least two goals, with both teams scoring in all of them.

There should be more of the same at Turf Moor where Burnley boasted an incredible home record in last season’s Championship.

Burnley and Aston Villa both conceded plenty of goals in the opening weekend of the season and the sheer amount of attacking talent on show should mean there will be no defensive masterclass.