Opponent Spotlight: Burnley fan Joe gives us the inside scoop on Aston Villa’s opponents

Burnley absolutely ran away with the Championship title last season, collecting 101 points over the span of a 46 game campaign - do you think that Vincent Kompany will be able to harness that momentum and be a surprise package in the Premier League this season?

Joe Redmond: Yes, absolutely. Vincent has a exceptional talent of not letting the wins or lows effect him or the team too much, I think he’ll just approach this season like the last by just keeping it all ‘business as usual’.

Vincent Kompany has had a rather busy summer in the transfer window - do you think there will be more incomings before the window closes?

JR: I’m sure Vincent and his staff will know about what they need more than myself, but I think we do need a ST and a LB, then for me this window would be as close to perfect as possible for us. Could be a busy week at Turf Moor.

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Burnley are vastly different when compared to previous spells in the Premier league. Although it’s still very early in the season, how confident are you looking ahead?

JR: You know what, Vincent has instilled hope and confidence into his team and the Club, and that’s transferred over to the fans. The style of play and attitudes of staff and players makes us feel like we can take anyone at the moment. That may come crashing down after a tough opening few weeks in the Premier League, but I really do feel like we’ll surprise a lot of people and end up having a solid mid-table finish.

Aston Villa and Burnley haven’t squared off since May 19th, 2022, with both sides taking a point in a 1-1 draw at Villa Park - as both sides now under different management and arguably heading in a positive direction, what sort of match are you expecting to see on Sunday?

JR: A tight one. A really close, but exciting game. We’ve got two teams that like to play attacking football and I think we’ll both try and have a good go at each other. Can see a few goals on Sunday personally.

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In terms of Burnley’s starting 11, what sort of lineup should we expect to see at Turf Moor?

JR: I do think it’ll be more of the same from our opening game against City. We’ll look to press Villa really intensely and constant; the line up against Man City did that superbly, so it would make sense to keep some continuity. Jordan Beyer is out for us and that might be a bigger loss than we first thought, he’s a superb ball-playing CB and quite a few attacking phases start from him. So that’s one to watch.

Predictions are never easy, but we’re going to put you in the hot seat anyways - what is your score prediction for Sunday’s match at Turf Moor?

JR: Tough one to predict, two good footballing teams. Turf Moor will be bouncing and it’ll be a difficult afternoon for Villa. But, I think we’ll match eachother really well with a few goals in there too, so I’ll go 2-2.