Burnley welcome Red Devils to Turf Moor ahead of an exciting encounter

Manchester United aim to close gap on top four with a win at Burnley this weekend.

United will be hoping to be making it back to back wins following their 4-1 victory over Newcastle on Boxing Day.

Victory for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side would see them close the gap on Chelsea, who travel to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, to just one point.

Burnley will be hoping for a positive result following their 1-0 defeat to Everton. Three points for the East Lancashire Side could see move up into the top half.

It’s United who come into this one in the better form, with only one loss from their last six. However they have only won two games on the road this season.

In comparison the Clarets have a very good home record, winning five of their nine games at Turf Moor this campaign.

Burnley have only beaten United once in the Premier League era, and their last meeting was a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, in which Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelof scored late on to rescue a point for Solskjaer’s men.

No doubt both teams will look to their strikers, Burnley’s Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood have scored 13 goals this term, which is over half of what the hosts have scored this season.

United on the other hand will be hoping that Marcus Rashford will have his shooting boots on. The England international has netted on 15 occasions, and will be hoping that Anthony Martial can add to his tally, following his brace on Boxing Day.

Team news

Burnley’s Ben Gibson and Aaron Lennon could both be back in the squad. Gibson, was out with an hip problem, while Lennon was unavailable with illness

Manchester United will be without Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu Mensah which are all injured with with defenders potentially returning next month.

Axel Tuanzebe has been sidelined with a knee injury whilst Scott McTominay picked up a knee injury against Newcastle.

Sean Dyche on playing two games in two days

“Scientifically it’s not ideal, but you should have enough in your locker to know what your demands are.

“The players have support on every level now to enable them to recover the best they can, so I will be expecting the players to be ready to go.

“Then, of course, there’s our own personal professionalism and discipline, so a light session and we will be ready to go again.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer differs opinion to Dyche, but believes their Boxing Day win will play to their advantage

“I don’t think it’s fair to be expected to perform at the top of your level – both mentally and physically – 48 hours after you’ve played.

“We’re probably in the best position to perform on Saturday,”

“One – we knew the game was over after 45 minutes. Two – we’re young, so we’re in with a great chance at Burnley to perform to our best level.

“I think the average age of the outfield players today was 23 and that will make it easier for us to recover. I think Burnley played to the end against Everton and I think we were done after 45 minutes and used the second half as a recovery.”

Head-to-head

Burnley wins: 44

Draws: 23

Manchester United wins: 61