No Jay Rodriguez? No problem. Ashley Westwood and Ben Mee got Burnley in the net yesterday, and Bertie went home a happy bee following the one-nil triumph over Crystal Palace (they better be letting that insect travel, unless he is immuno-compromised in which case for the love of Sean Dyche, please keep that bee at home). It was a major road victory for the Europa League hopefuls, and noted footie website FiveThirtyEight now has our lads two percent likely to qualify for that prestigious international cup, assuming Man City is still banned by UEFA when the ruling on their appeal comes down. That’s a lot of percent. More than one percent.
What to watch these next few days?
- Man U leads Burnley by four points, but’s played one fewer game. They play at Brighton today. A loss would be amazing. A draw would also be surprising and nice.
- On Thursday, Tottenham travels to Sheffield. Tottenham’s even with Burnley with one more to play. Sheffield’s one point behind Burnley with one more to play. Burnley hosts Sheffield Sunday morning. Seems like we want a draw with a red card, but I can’t confirm that.
- Arsenal’s two points behind Burnley with one more to play, and they host Norwich. See: the Man U-Brighton wish list.
- The ruling on Man City’s UEFA ban could come at any time? Unclear. If this guess is correct, keep an eye out for it.
- Wolverhampton’s seven points ahead of Burnley, having played the same number of games. They’re currently in fifth, which is the Europa League spot if Man City’s not banned and a Champions League spot if Man City’s banned. Their next match is Saturday against Arsenal. If Man U beats Brighton today (expected), they’re tied with Man U but behind on goal differential. They and Man U are interchangeable for our purposes.
The odds are long. The haters are many. The Burnleys are one. Buzz buzz.
