Burnley's interim boss Mike Jackson faces a tough choice when picking his team against Newcastle – does he risk going for a win?
Burnley are currently in 17th place in the table, and host Newcastle United at Turf Moor for the final match of the season on Sunday. The final relegation spot is between Burnley or Leeds United, who will be playing away at Brentford at the same time.
Both teams are on the same number of points, though Leeds have a goal difference which is 20 goals inferior. That means that if Burnley can match or better Leeds’ result, they stay up.
READ MORE: How to watch the goals live as Burnley battle Newcastle
Burnley managed to get a 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Thursday night, when right-back Matthew Lowton came on as a substitute then got sent off. That means Lowton is banned for Sunday’s match, though Jackson said they might appeal.
The likelihood is Jackson will revert to the team that lost 3-1 to Aston Villa at Turf Moor earlier this month. That would mean James Tarkowski, currently seeing out the end of his contract ahead of an expected summer move, would be in the middle of a back four after recovering from injury.
With him at the back would be Charlie Taylor, Nathan Collins and Connor Roberts. In goal would be Burnley’s stand-out player at the moment, Nick Pope.
In the middle it’s likely to be Aaron Lennon, Jack Cork, Josh Brownhill and Dwight McNeil. Up front though is a bit more of a puzzle to solve.
Ashley Barnes has been doing a great job and is likely to start. Also in favour is Maxwel Cornet, another player who was heralded earlier in the season but has gone a little flat recently.
Wout Weghorst, brought in to replace Chris Wood when he was poached by Newcastle, has also not lived up to the initial hype. He is likely to be on the bench again.
Jay Rodriguez, who has two Premier League goals this season, has recovered from a hamstring injury and might be involved. Matej Vydra, Ashley Westood, Ben Mee, Erik Pieters and Johann Berg Gudmundsson are all expected to be missing.
Burnley starTing XI: Pope, Taylor, Tarkowski, Collins, Roberts, Lennon, Cork, Brownhill, McNeil, Cornet, Barnes
