Saying the right things, match facts and will Buendia start?

Is it wrong to not be that interested in Aston Villa at the moment? I mean, we are not getting relegated and I guess the only thing we have to look forward to is the summer and the manager building his team.

After that, we have the optimism that something could happen next season, the hope that the football is better.

If the above isn't wrong, I have to say I'm more interested in what happens at the bottom of the table at the moment. Everton have a game in hand over Leeds and if they win it, Leeds are in the bottom three with four games to go, but I don't think this is going to come down to the game in hand.

Everton fans are going to believe because of the win over Chelsea but has Frank got it? I'm not convinced and I think it was the players playing for that result and it had little to do with what he might have said to them. And I think it's entirely possible that Leeds find a gear.

And that brings us back to today, because Burnley are not out of it yet. If Everton do win that game in hand they also go above Burnley. That will have Everton fans believing they are safe and it's not that I want to see Everton go down, I don't think I ever really want to see any side go down, but I think they are the most likely.

That said, if they don't, they'll probably give Frank the Bank money in the summer and he'll blow it and be fired before Christmas. But this post is about today. I'll be watching and updating and I think I might be drinking the last of the lager I have in the house before I go on my summer wine diet.

I'm predicting big things today. Okay, I don't know what is going to happen. A win would be nice, but hey, it's only a game. I should say it would be nice to see Buendia start and get 90 minutes, but that's only me.

The manager saying the right things


Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

  • Burnley are vying to win back-to-back league games against Aston Villa for the first time since January 1973.
  • The Clarets have scored in 37 successive home league fixtures with Villa since a 0-0 draw in January 1920.
  • Villa's only victory in their past 26 league visits to Burnley was by 2-1 in January 2020.
  • This is the latest that two top-flight sides have faced each other for the first time in a season since Luton hosted Nottingham Forest in May 1988.

Burnley

  • Burnley could win four successive Premier League games for the first time since April 2018.
  • The Clarets have only lost once at home this season to teams currently in the bottom half of the table (W3, D4).
  • The Turf Moor club are vying to keep three top-flight clean sheets in a row at home for the first time since a run of four between October and December 1973.
  • Mike Jackson is aiming to be the fourth Burnley manager to remain unbeaten in his opening five league games, emulating Frank Casper (1983), Jimmy Mullen (1991) and Owen Coyle (2007).
  • Dwight McNeil has attempted a league-high 41 Premier League shots this season without scoring.

Aston Villa

  • Aston Villa are eight points worse off than they were at this stage last season.
  • Villa have lost 10 away league matches in 2021-22, with only Norwich and Everton faring worse.
  • Ollie Watkins is seeking to become the first Englishman to score 10 or more goals in consecutive top-flight seasons for Villa since Gabby Agbonlahor in 2008-09.
  • Danny Ings has scored in his past three Premier League appearances against his former club Burnley.
  • Ings' only goal in his last 12 top-flight away games came in a 2-1 defeat by Brentford in January.