Burnley predicted lineup vs Aston Villa - Premier League

Burnley travel down to the Midlands to face a resurgent Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Spared the tension of a relegation scrap against Watford in midweek after the Hornets forced a postponement following a COVID outbreak, Burnley remain firmly ensconced in the relegation zone, with just one win all season.

Here's the XI Dyche may deploy, if he gets the chance to this time.

Burnley predicted lineup vs Aston Villa - Premier League

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Nick Pope (GK) - Commanding at crosses, Pope is surprisingly active outside his penalty area, with Liverpool's Alisson the only Premier League keeper to execute more defensive actions beyond the confines of his box this season (per FBref).

Matt Lowton (RB) - One of four players to have started every top-flight game for Burnley this term - the joint-highest tally of 100% starters among Premier League clubs.

James Tarkowski (CB) - A robust tackler who certainly lets the opposition forward know he's there, Tarkowski was accused of 'some weird jiu jitsu thing' by Leeds United's Patrick Bamford earlier in the season.

Ben Mee (CB) - One of ten Clarets whose contract expires in the summer, the club captain's renewal may well be the top priority.

Charlie Taylor (LB) - Having played his way back into form following a dreadful individual start to the campaign, Taylor leads the league for interceptions per game this term (per WhoScored).

2. Midfielders

Johann Berg Gudmundsson (RM) - Despite his nominal responsibility to attack and repeated selection, Burnley's Iceland international has accrued more yellow cards (four) than direct goal contributions (three) across the past two seasons.

Josh Brownhill (CM) - One booking away from suspension, if Brownhill picks up a yellow card against Villa he can get Christmas Day off as he'll be sitting out the Boxing Day visit of Everton. Not that any professional would ever plan such a thing.

Ashley Westwood (CM) - Burnley have picked up just two points from the 12 Premier League games Westwood hasn't started since he emerged as an integral figure in the 2018/19 campaign.

Dwight McNeil (LM) - The memories of a goal and an assist in his last meeting with Aston Villa may help enliven the displays of a player who has created as many Premier League goals as Watford's 38-year-old goalkeeper Ben Foster (one) this term.

3. Forwards

Chris Wood (ST) - Goalless in his last trio of outings, Burnley have collectively drawn a blank in their past three December matches.

Maxwel Cornet (ST) - Burnley's top scorer (with five of the 11 goals the club have netted since his debut in September) may well have shaken off an injury to feature on Saturday - joyous news for those in Lancashire.

You can read 90min's preview of Aston Villa vs Burnley here.

You can read Aston Villa's predicted lineup here.