SportsNew role for McNeil as Dyche makes one change: Burnley predicted XI v Wolves [Opinion]
Burnley remain in the hunt for Europa League football as they prepare to take on Wolves at Turf Moor this evening.
The Clarets extended their unbeaten run to five games at the weekend with a 1-1 draw away to champions Liverpool and could move to within two points of Nuno Espirito Santo’s team in sixth if they win today, a result which would also ramp up on the pressure on Arsenal and Sheffield United ahead of their respective midweek fixtures (as per Sky Sports).
However, Sean Dyche will continue to plan without several players due to injury, with Ben Mee, Jack Cork, Ashley Barnes and Matthew Lowton all unlikely to play a part for the remainder of the season (as per premierinjuries.com).
That has left the Burnley manager with a limited squad pick and, with that in mind, we foresee just one change to his starting line-up from the team that earned a point at Anfield:
No prizes for guessing that Nick Pope will be in goal after his man-of-the-match performance against the Reds, in which he made eight saves. The Englishman is likely to be behind an unchanged back four of Charlie Taylor, James Tarkowski, Kevin Long and Phil Bardsley, with Pope and Tarkowski just three full games away from completing an ever-present Premier League season.
Dyche could also keep the same front two of Jay Rodriguez and Chris Wood, with the former netting at the weekend to preserve his impressive recent form and the latter feeling his way back into the team after returning to the starting XI on Saturday. Matej Vydra is also an option if the Clarets manager wishes to freshen things up in attack.
However, there could be some notable changes in midfield. Erik Pieters, traditionally a left-back but operating at right midfield in recent games, could be switched to the left to combat the threat of Adama Traore, who has the best dribbles per game average of any Premier League player. Dyche may want the defensive experience of Pieters on that flank to cope with the Wolves right winger.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who was the width of a crossbar away from scoring a winner at Anfield, could fill the gap left by Pieters on the right, while Dwight McNeil may switch from his position on the left to play centrally, reprising a role that he played in the win at Crystal Palace two weeks ago. Along with Ashley Westwood, he could provide Burnley with a highly creative central midfield pairing (they both have six assists this season), with Josh Brownhill dropping out to end his run of starts in recent weeks.
Burnley fans, is this the team that you would pick to face Wolves? Have your say by commenting below!
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