Burnley might be close to instant Premier League promotion but fans want ‘toothless’ Clarets to start scoring goals

DEFENCES mightiness triumph you titles, but fans of "toothless" Burnley are demanding football's tightest squad commencement scoring immoderate goals too.

The Clarets are 2nd successful the Championship mostly owed to their miserly backline.

But they could stroke their contiguous instrumentality to the Premier League acknowledgment to their less-than-impressive onslaught rate.

To accidental that Burnley's football hasn't been riveting would beryllium an understatement.

They person irked fans with 10 0-0 draws truthful acold this word - the joint-most by a nine successful an full Championship play since 2008 - with 16 games to go.

But the Clarets person by acold the champion antiaircraft grounds successful English nonrecreational football, conceding conscionable NINE goals successful 29 matches.

That's 10 less than immoderate different broadside successful the country, with Leeds and Birmingham adjacent champion connected conscionable 19, portion they person conceded 5 less than immoderate squad playing successful the apical 2 tiers of immoderate league successful Europe.

In fact, Burnley person conceded the fewest goals of immoderate squad successful Premier League and EFL history aft 31 matches. 

Their grounds adjacent surpasses Jose Mourinho’s famously stingy 2004-05 Chelsea side, who had conceded 10 goals aft 31 games connected their mode to a Prem grounds debased of 15 goals conceded successful a season.

Burnley's rock-solid defence, which boasts the likes of Chelsea loanee Bashir Humphreys and Manchester City merchandise CJ Egan-Riley, has seen them support 22 cleanable sheets this term.

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And portion England's young goalkeeper James Trafford has been fantabulous betwixt their sticks, the Clarets can't bash the concern up the different extremity of the pitch.

It's been 46 days and counting since fans person watched 1 of their ain people astatine Turf Moor - a fortress wherever they stay unbeaten.

Michal Helik's Oxford own-goal connected Tuesday was the archetypal extremity scored astatine Turf Moor since Burnley's 2-1 triumph implicit Watford connected December 21.

Turf Moor had witnessed 4 consecutive goalless draws earlier Tuesday and the location fans ironically chanted "we’ve scored a goal!" earlier this week.

Nonetheless, the hopeful Clarets are pushing for automatic promotion owed to an bonzer antiaircraft grounds of NINE consecutive cleanable sheets.

That is 1 of conscionable 12 runs of 9 consecutive cleanable sheets successful Football League history. 

The past broadside to grounds a longer tally was Torquay United successful August 2010, erstwhile they registered 10 consecutive cleanable sheets. Burnley tin lucifer that grounds astatine location to Hull next week.

Manchester United clasp the English grounds with a tally of 14 shut-outs successful 2008.

But contempt their league presumption and conscionable 2 defeats each season, a conception of fans are turning connected manager Scott Parker's "predictable" benignant of play.

Burnley protagonist and TurfCast Youtube big Joe Redmond told talkSPORT: "Hindsight is simply a fantastic thing.

"I wanted to support Vincent Kompany past play and astatine the commencement of this one.

"It's a pugnacious debate. If we get backmost to the Prem, I deliberation we'll beryllium much pragmatic than what we were similar past season.

"But astatine the infinitesimal we're not winning capable games. We should beryllium beating much teams. Us fans expect 0-0 draws now.

"It's not america conscionable missing chances, it's the information that we're not creating anything."

After Tuesday night's win, a contributor told TurfCast: "I'm not a instrumentality of Parker. He's truthful predictable.

"I won't flight that 1-0 win. We are toothless successful beforehand of goal.

"We look terrified of putting the extremity successful the backmost of the net."

Burnley’s non-penalty expected goals full of 28.2 is the 3rd lowest successful the division.

Combine a deficiency of goal-mouth enactment astatine some ends of the pitch, and Burnley’s league games this word are presently seeing the fewest goals per crippled successful a play successful EFL history.

Meanwhile Parker has repeated the antiaircraft soundness that got his Bournemouth and Fulham sides promoted a fewer years back.

But dissimilar times of old, Parker doesn't person a reliable goalscorer similar helium erstwhile did successful Aleksandar Mitrovic oregon Dominic Solanke.

The club's 37 goals leaves them 11th for astir scored, with midfielder Josh Brownhill the apical goalscorer with 9 this season.

By comparison, promotion rivals Leeds, who beryllium 2 points wide of the Clarets, person scored 60.

But bash Burnley fans adjacent privation their broadside to spell up aft however atrocious past play went?

Redmond said: "Me personally, yeah. Don't get maine incorrect it is simply a slog successful the Premier League.

"Last play was my worst-ever play arsenic a Burnley fan. I hated each azygous infinitesimal of it. We were getting tanked each azygous week.

"But you privation to beryllium the champion you tin be. You privation to beryllium eating astatine the apical array with the apical teams.

"If it means getting battered each week and we person to regroup, past truthful beryllium it.

"But eventually, if you support going up, you'll enactment up and level up."

What, perhaps, is astir telling is what happened aft Parker led Fulham and Bournemouth up.

The Cottagers sacked the Englishman aft they were relegated upon their return, but sealed an contiguous promotion nether Marco Silva successful 2022/23.

Meanwhile, the Cherries stayed successful the Prem but axed Parker wrong a period of him guiding the nine there.

If Mitrovic's 43 goals brought Fulham backmost to the Prem, Burnley's deficiency of goals mightiness outgo them.

In their past 100 Championship matches, Burnley person mislaid conscionable FIVE games. But they besides person aged gaffer Kompany to convey for that.

Unlike Kompany's side, Parker's aren't breathtaking to watch.

Parker defended his side's antiaircraft spot arsenic "remarkable" amid claims they deficiency amusement value.

The 44-year-old said: "Our default presumption arsenic a squad is let's get retired of here, let's support our goal, let's support this to a nil.

"And I get that it's not fashionable oregon surely not what immoderate radical privation to hear.

"But presently what this squad person and what we person arsenic a radical is thing abbreviated of remarkable, what we've done successful the antiaircraft phase.

"I recognize connected the amusement side, it is astir apt little so, but that's a enactment successful progress."

Former Tottenham prima Marcus Edwards signed from Sporting Lisbon successful January, and fans were asking for him to play against Oxford.

The Clarets meantime did deed 5 past Plymouth Argyle astatine the Home Park Stadium astatine the extremity of January.

Burnley's tally of 18 games unbeaten is the second-longest agelong down Liverpool (19) successful the top-four tiers this term.

While, an FA Cup fourth-round triumph distant astatine Southampton connected Saturday volition surely boost morale. Especially if they bang successful a fewer goals.