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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 21
Burnley v Luton Town
Turf Moor
Burnley, England
Friday, 12 January 2024
Kick-off is at 21h45
Burnley will be looking to start the New Year on a positive note when they host fellow
Premier League strugglers Luton in a relegation six-pointer at Turf Moor on Friday, January 12.
The Clarets endured a disappointing end to 2023 after suffering back-to-back defeats against Liverpool (2-0) Aston Villa (3-2) to finish the year two points off the foot of the table in 19th place.
The Hatters are just above them in 18th position, having given their survival hopes a shot in the arm with successive wins over Newcastle (1-0) and rock-bottom Sheffield United (3-2) before losing 3-2 to Chelsea on December 30.
Rob Edwards' side have opened up a four-point gap to the 2022-23 Championship winners and find themselves just one adrift of Everton, who have dragged back towards danger after losing three games on the spin.
Lyle Foster returned for Burnley in December after missing seven matches due to mental health issues and he was back amongst the goals against the Villans, racing onto Johann Berg Gudmundsson's flick-on before holding off his marker to score with a clinical finish. The South African striker ended a five-game barren spell with his fourth goal of the season.
Ross Barkley looks to have rediscovered his best form again since returning to England with Luton in August after spending last season at Nice. The former Everton midfielder has become more influential in recent weeks and scored with a fine header against the Blues to register his second goal for the Hatters in 14 appearances.
Burnley manager Vincent Kompany reserved special praise for Foster, who had a goal ruled out for offside earlier on before getting on the scoresheet against Villa.
"I honestly don't know how he does it. I really don't. We saw him when he was at his lowest point and it even makes me emotional to think about it because it was a real tragedy," Kompany said.
"To see him enjoying playing now with the team, I'm happy for him rebuilding his happiness and for me as a human not just a coach, it's beautiful for me to observe."
Edwards was pleased with the manner in which his players kept fighting against the Blues after going 3-0 down with 20 minutes left to play and making them sweat.
"I think that's the best performance I've ever had as a manager of any one of my teams - that's how good I think it was, the players were amazing today," he said.
"Goals change people's perceptions of the game a little bit, and because we went 3-0 down and people - and not our fans, they get it, they see it, the ones who were here will understand - but because we went 3-0 down people might have the perception 'oh, they didn't get going until later on'.
"But we got going straight away today... We were in the ascendancy when we conceded the third, and that was the frustrating thing because it could have been avoided as well.
"But when there could have been a little bit of a lull because supporters could think it 'it's 3-0, it's Chelsea, the game's done today', these lads keep going. They keep going and they found a way to get back in the game."
Head-to-Head (Previous Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 1
Burnley - 1
Luton - 0
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 21 fixtures:
Friday, January 12
21h45: Burnley v Luton Town
Saturday, January 13
14h30: Chelsea v Fulham
19h30: Newcastle United v Manchester City
Sunday, January 14
16h00: Everton v Aston Villa
18h30: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
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