Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at Turf Moor on Sunday
Both Manchester United and Burnley head into their clash at Turf Moor on Sunday with points to prove after each side suffered a high-profile setback during the week.
United’s 3-0 home defeat against Tottenham had Jose Mourinho in fiery form afterwards, while Sean Dyche’s men were eliminated from the Europa League after a second-leg draw at home to Olympiakos.
Having lost two of their opening three games for the first time in 26 years, it is imperative that United get back on track with a win ahead of the first international break of the season, otherwise the next two weeks are going to be full of speculation relating to potential changes at the club.
Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia both returned against Spurs and should continue, although Matic in particular did look some way off the pace on Monday.
Diogo Dalot is back in training after knee surgery and could feature soon, while Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo are still out after summer operations.
Alexis Sanchez should be fit to start having returned from injury with a second-half substitute appearance last time out, while Phil Jones is expected to be unavailable having picked up a hamstring injury in the heavy defeat to Tottenham.
Neither team has any suspension concerns, with none of their players sent off in the opening games of this term.
The trip to Burnley is unlikely to feature more of the tactical tinkering from Jose Mourinho which saw him pick Ander Herrera as a centre-back in the 3-0 reverse to Spurs, with the Spaniard either being chosen as one of the substitutes or potentially covering for Nemanja Matic in midfield if the Serb suffers any reaction to his comeback appearance on Monday.
With Alexis Sanchez back, the Chilean ought to line up on the left of the attack, while Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly will be battling for the starting shirt alongside Chris Smalling to replace Phil Jones at the back following the England World Cup defender’s hamstring issue on Monday.
Sean Dyche’s side have suffered a frustrating start to the season, with their Europa League campaign having seen them past Aberdeen and Basaksehir only to be eliminated by Olympiakos in the play-off round on Thursday.
They have also struggled in the Premier League – perhaps as a result of their extra workload in Europe – and have picked up only a single point from their first three games. Their opening day draw was followed by disappointing defeats to Watford and Fulham as the Clarets showed a defensive deficiency which barely existed at all during their excellent 2017-18 season.
Dyche’s biggest call might come in choosing a goalkeeper, with Tom Heaton having returned to full fitness following a calf problem. The former United goalkeeper has already played in their European loss against Olympiakos but Joe Hart has until now retained the gloves in the Premier League in the continued absence of Nick Pope after the World Cup back-up damaged his shoulder against Aberdeen in July.
Elsewhere the manager will be hoping to get his strikers firing, with defender James Tarkowski having scored two of Burnley’s league goals so far this season and Jeff Hendrick getting the other.
The match at Turf Moor kicks off at 4pm BST on Sunday, but there is no live coverage in the UK since the game between Watford and Tottenham was selected for TV long before Burnley’s Europa League adventures forced a rescheduling of this fixture. In the U.S. the game will be shown on NBCSN at 11am ET.
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