Credit to me for getting up early enough and putting myself in front of the TV enough to watch the Clarets.
The Result:
Everton 1, Burnley 1. Point for the Clarets. Could’ve been three. Could’ve been zero.
How It Happened:
Burnley jumped in front, with Robbie Brady sending in a beauty from the top of the key while I was in the kitchen grabbing my coffee (early morning, had to go with the potent stuff). From there, though, Everton dominated the chances for a good 60 minutes or more, sending one in during first half stoppage time and threatening quite a few on Nick Pope, who ended the game with five saves, at least one rather impressively, and one with what was either his inner thigh or his ballsack.
Towards the end, Burnley grabbed some chances of their own, including a Dwight McNeil look with the clock fading. But they couldn’t connect on any, with Jordan Pickford making quite the save on a Chris Wood header off a corner and McNeil topping his chance into the turf and far to the right of the post.
What It Means:
Burnley draws even with West Brom for 18th, at least temporarily, and within a point of Fulham for freedom from the relegation zone (as this is typed, Fulham is two goals into their demolition by Man City). FiveThirtyEight has the relegation probability up to 47%, but that’s before the inevitable Fulham result’s added. In the goal differential race, and yes we’re already talking about goal differential, Fulham’s at -10 (I think that includes the two so far today), West Brom’s at -11, and Burnley’s at -13 with a makeup against Man U not offering a lot of optimism. Still, this early, close enough for Burnley to gain an edge there if necessary.
What’s Next:
Burnley travels to London on Sunday for a matchup with Arsenal that’ll kick off the holiday blitz. Six games in four weeks, the latter three of which will come against fellow relegation contenders. Big opportunity on the horizon, and would be great to grab some momentum on the front end by managing a point against Gunnersaurus’s attempted killers.
Other News:
Sounds like the sale to ALK Capital is growing closer. I don’t know enough to know what it will mean for Burnley, but one would hope it’ll give Sean Dyche more money to work with, especially if he can keep the club in the top flight for another season.
General Thoughts:
I’m still curious how much one’s immune system can prevent one from getting the coronavirus. Does it just make the difference between a bad infection and a mild one? Can it stop you from spreading it? Can it stop you from contracting it altogether? Regardless, I’m going to go chug a carton of orange juice and try to sleep ten hours tonight.
Burnley Thoughts:
The lads seem to be playing a bit better, but the hole’s rather deep. Would be nice if Brighton or Leeds or Newcastle or Crystal Palace lost a few straight to get a few more teams into the thick of the relegation race. At its widest, seems like an eight-team race, with Burnley 1-2-1 against the other seven so far (I’m putting ties in the middle there—they’ve tied twice—don’t know if that’s how it works but my impression’s that’s how it works). Not good enough, especially with just one point in the other six matches, but also a lot of chances left. Average two points a match from here out against the seven and average maybe a point per match against the others and you’re in the 40’s, which seems likely to be safe. High-end goal, but seems to be the target right now. Would mean nine points over the next six matches.
