Title minnows to top-flight woes: everything you need to know about Burnley

FACT FILE

• Manager: Vincent Kompany
• Position: 19th
• Nickname: The Clarets
• Ground: Turf Moor
• Founded: 1882 (141 years ago)

WHAT’S THE STORY?

It’s been a difficult return to Premier League life for Burnley, who ran away with the Championship title last season, earning 101 points in the process under Vincent Kompany.

They were active in the transfer market over summer, spending significant money on goalkeeper James Trafford and midfielders Sander Berge and Aaron Ramsey from Manchester City, Sheffield United and Aston Villa respectively.

Their start has been slow, however, losing eight of their opening 10 games; their sole win so far has come at Kenilworth Road against Luton Town, courtesy of a late Jacob Bruun Larsen winner.

Two points off safety – but already six points behind Nottingham Forest in 16th – they must turn their form around soon to avoid being sucked further into relegation trouble before the busy Christmas period.

THE BOSS

A four-time Premier League winner at Manchester City, Kompany returned to his native Belgium to begin his managerial career, before leaving Anderlecht for Burnley in 2022 and transforming the style of the side on the pitch.

THE VIEW FROM THE PALACE

Roy Hodgson:

“I know that people will relate to experience, perhaps, but [Kompany] seems like a pretty experienced man to me with all the incredible success he’s had over the years, not only with his club sides, but with Belgium, so he brings plenty to his team, there’s no doubt about that.

“Every team’s been well-coached, every team’s well-organised, every team’s physically fit. So basically it’s coming down much more to what players you’ve been lucky enough to work with and I mean, to be fair to him, they’ve made some investment, they’ve brought some players in.

“I haven’t seen that much of them [Burnley], but I’ve seen one or two matches. I saw their opening game against Manchester City and they played very well, Burnley. They lost, but Manchester City were pegged back.

“I remember watching them play against Nottingham Forest where I thought arguably they could have quite easily won that game. So they’re doing like the rest of us, trying to make as good a fist as they can in the matches, and we expect it to be a very tough game.”