We’re going to Burnley on Sunday and that’s just the start.
After the raw emotion of Thursday night we’ve got another big match coming up three days later at Burnley. Both sets of supporters will be celebrating as well as looking forward. In our case it’s getting to the final and thinking about a trip to Istanbul with next season’s Champions League thrown in. For Burnley it’s the arrival of running water and dreams of inside toilets.
It’ll be a bit strange to be playing a game that we’ve got to win but at the same time we should be taking easy. Fortunately we’re only playing Burnley, and as it’s an even year they’re getting relegated. Three games left and all they’ve got to play for is avoiding the terminal embarrassment of finishing below Wolves.
Burnley play in claret and blue. Andy Lochhead and Tony Morley played for them. And that’s all we’ve got in common. They’re owned by an assortment of American businesses and until recently their manager was the sort of player we were linked with throughout the O’Neill years. They’ve got a temp doing the job until the end of the season.
Their players include Kyle Walker, possibly the oldest right-back in Europe, Axel Tuanzebe, possessor of the best player song since Dwight Yorke, and Aaron Ramsey, who’s spent most of his time since we sold him either on loan or at Leicester. Only he can say which was worse.
The team Unai picks is bound to have a few surprises, and whoever he picks has got to be more interested in playing than the team were last week. Victor Lindelof deserves another game and Ollie Watkins might be allowed to rest his weary and battered head. Whoever plays I doubt they’ll be anywhere near as committed as they were on Thursday night or reach the same heights but they won’t have to, because they’re playing Burnley. Get the win, make sure of the top five then look forward to the glittering prizes.
