Burnley vs Crystal Palace - live: Chris Wood capitalises on Eagles mishap to put Clarets ahead
Follow all the live action from Turf Moor
Crystal Palace have made a torrid start under former Barcelona and Ajax defender Frank de Boer, with his job seemingly already on the line. The Dutchman has overseen three losses from three, including a humbling 3-0 defeat at home to newly-promoted Huddersfield Town.
Burnley, in contrast, have been characteristically solid under Sean Dyche so far, chalking up a win, a draw and a defeat. Record signing Chris Wood’s injury-time strike away to Spurs typified the never-say-die approach instilled by the manager, whose players appear pre-programmed to scrap for every loose ball.
Palace have potential at the moment, if little else. One cause for optimism is the fact that, with the exception of Neymar, Wilfried Zaha attempted more dribbles than anyone in Europe’s top five leagues last term. Furthermore, the Ivorian actually had a marginally higher dribbling success rate than – wait for it – Lionel Messi.
Granted, Zaha is far from the finished article, as any Man United fan will testify, but with someone like him in their ranks, De Boer and Palace should not be fearful of anyone, let alone Burnley. Dyche’s side will certainly not be complacent.
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What time does it start?
Burnley vs Crystal Palace kicks off at 13:30 on Sunday 10th September.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League from 13:30. Highlights will be shown at 22:30 on BBC One.
It’s a big game for…
Chris Wood: The club-record £15m striker should play at Turf Moor for the first time, and will be especially keen to impress those Burnley fans sceptical of his fee and pedigree (perhaps it’s just his unglamorous name).
Best stat…
9: Burnley’s 9-0 win over Crystal Palace in February 1909 is their joint-biggest win of all time, in any competition.
Remember when…
This seven-goal Championship thriller from 2012 will be etched into the memories of many a Palace fan. Where Eagles dare, as they say…
Player to watch…
Ruben Loftus-Cheek: The midfielder has been a shining light for Palace so far, and has already garnered praise from high places. De Boer described him as a “fantastic player”, and Eagles chairman Steve Parish believes he has “all the tools” to become an England regular in the future.
Past three meetings…
Crystal Palace 0 Burnley 2 (Barnes, Gray), Premier League, April 2017
Burnley 3 (Vokes, Gudmundsson, Barnes) Crystal Palace 2 (Wickham, Benteke), Premier League, November 2016
Burnley 2 (Mee, Ings) Crystal Palace 3 (Gayle, Puncheon, Gayle), Premier League, January 2015
Form guide…
Burnley: LLWLWD
Crystal Palace: WLLLWL
Odds…
Burnley to win: 5/4
Crystal Palace to win: 9/4
Draw: 11/5
67 mins: I'll be honest, I'm bored now. I'm going to have a flick through the channels.
70 mins: I stumbled upon an episode of Noel Edmonds' new head mess of a quiz-com Cheap Cheap Cheap and have turned straight back to the football. Nobody is ready for that after a heavy Saturday night out.
I'm back just in time to see Jeffrey Schlupp blaze a rare effort on goal over the bar.
75 mins: A frustrating afternoon for Christian Benteke, and the striker has reached his limit. Chasing a loose ball, he needlessly barges into Tarkowski and sends the Burnley centre-half spinning. He earns the game's second yellow card from referee Michael Oliver.
79 mins: Fine save from Nick Pope! Palace's best piece of play today saw crisp one-touch passing from Puncheon and Townsend power Benteke into the area, but Burnley's substitute keeper was quick off his line to block the Belgian's resulting shot.
83 mins: Sky Sports drop another stat bomb on us: it's 93 years since a club lost their first four top-flight matches without scoring a goal. Crystal Palace are seven minutes plus injury time away from just that.
84 mins: A Palace goal?! No! Scott Dann is denied once again by a last-gasp clearance, this time from James Tarkowski. In a repeat of their early first half chance, a Puncheon corner from the left falls to the defender in space at the far post. Dann drove his effort past Pope, but sliding back to clear was Tarkowski to help keep Burnley's clean sheet in tact.
88 mins: Palace are having another flurry of corners, but they just cannot find a way past a Burnley backline expertly marshalled by the dominance of Mee and Tarkowski. Time is ticking.
89 mins: How has he missed?! There's no defender to clear off the line this time as Scott Dann meets Cabaye's lofted cross at the back post, but somehow the Palace man headed wide from point blank range. They will not be presented with a better chance to score all season.
90 mins: There will be three more minutes before Steve Parish summons Frank de Boer for a Sunday evening meeting on their return to South London.
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