Burnley Fantasy Premier League Preview

Since coming back up into the Premier League in 2016/17 Burnley have been a consistent mid table team. They just somehow get the job done, they may not play attractive football but they can beat top teams. They have played in qualifiers and Europa league a few seasons ago. Sean Dyche with his raspy voice just pulls his team along nicely, they’ve never been a high goal scoring team with just over an average of a goal a game. 

In regards to Fantasy Burnley had 7 players score 100 points or more. For a team who finished 10th last season that is some return. Low ownership players like McNeil, Westwood and Mee got 351 points between them. Last season Nick Pope was very unfortunate not to win the golden glove for the most clean sheets, was pipped by Manchester City keeper Ederson. Pope scored 170 points. Chris Wood scored 14 goals on his way to 136 points, a slight improvement from last season. Dwight McNeil wasn’t too far behind with 123 points with 2 goals and 7 assists. Burnley kept 15 clean sheets last season, equal to Liverpool and only one behind Manchester City. James Tarkowski played every minute last season for Burnley scoring 143 points contributing 2 goals and 3 assists from Centre Back

Burnley's first 5 games are: 

Leceister (A)

Southampton (H)

Newcastle (A)

West Brom (A)

Spurs (H)

Reminder: Burnley were meant to play Manchester United at Turf Moor to open the season but that game has been postponed due to Manchester United’s European commitments at the end of season 2019/20. This means that at some point in the season Burnley will have a double Gameweek. 

Goalkeepers:

Nick Pope (5.5): Highest scoring keeper last season with 170 points. He played every minute and kept 15 clean sheets, only one behind Ederson. He pulled off 120 saves last season. He will be round the same mark this season, unless Burnley don’t have a good season. Definitely one of the top keepers in this league and 5.5 is about the price you would pay for a top keeper. Watch him, possibly could link him with another keeper for when Burnley play the big 4.

Defenders:

James Tarkowski (5.5): 5th highest scoring defender last season, only behind Van Dijk in points for Centre Backs. As mentioned before he scored 143 points. Currently is in 7.8% of teams. I currently have him in my player pool, just for the first game week he misses make sure you have your bench player who is guaranteed to start. Tarkowski is a threat at set pieces too either scoring or setting up a teammate with a flick on header or a header back across. He played every minute last season.

Ben Mee (5.0): Tarkowski’s partner in crime, he improved on his 2018/19 output with an increase in 29 points to 110. He contributed 1 goal and 2 assists last season while being a part of 13 clean sheets. Not as much as an aerial threat as his partner in crime but if left unmarked at a set piece, he will cause some damage. If he can partner Tarkowski for the whole season we should see Mee improve even more in his FPL output, at 5.0m he’s definitely worth a look at. Currently selected by only 2.3% of coaches.

Charlie Taylor (4.5): The 26 year old left back scored more points than his previous season but played 1300 less minutes. According to the stats Taylor doesn’t provide much of an attacking threat but hopefully this season he will have a breakout season and provide his coaches both Sean Dyche and fantasy coaches with a few more goal contributions. 4.5m is a bargain for a raging left back who has tall timber up front to aim for when making overlapping runs. 

Midfielders:

Dwight McNeil (6.0): Only missed 91 minutes of football last season. Made a huge improvement in his attacking output and fantasy premier league output from 2018/19 to 2019/20. He provided 7 assists last season and 2 goals. This season I’m expecting about the same output of 120 points for McNeil, possibly in my opinion at 6.0 there are better options but definitely keep him on your watch list as he can produce a few good games in a row and will be definitely valuable when Burnley have their double Gameweek due to no game in the first week.

Ashley Westwood (5.5): Burnley’s central midfielder who played every minute of each game he was involved in, only missed 3 games last season. Scored 118 points last season with 2 goals and 7 assists, was apart of all 15 clean sheets last season. Should improve this season or be around the same amount of points as last season, definitely consider after Gameweek 2 and for Burnley’s double game week.

Forwards:

Chris Wood (6.5): Burnleys top scorer last season, has hit double figures for goals in the last three seasons, he should definitely do the same this season and possibly get 15 or more. Currently in only 6.5% of teams, will be in the consideration after Gameweek 1. 

Ashley Barnes (6.0): Wood’s strike partner, played only half the time Wood did and is only 0.5 cheaper, unfortunately I don’t believe he is worth it, he scored half the points he did in 2018/19. Only 61 points from 6 goals and no assists. Hopefully will play more this season and should contribute at least 10 goals or assists combined. Currently in 0.7% of teams. 

Definitely consider Nick Pope, James Tarkowski and Chris Wood. Those three will be highly owned, if you’re looking for a good POD then I would go for Charlie Taylor, cheap Left Back that should be starting every game. Burnley will keep clean sheets but aren’t as attacking as some mid table teams. Chris Wood is always reliable to get a goal contribution every couple of games. Ben Mee will improve and could be a valuable POD too. 

Prediction: 8th-12th this season in my opinion.