Former Leeds United man's 'cracking' Burnley prediction amid 'work-in-progress' point
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David Prutton expects a tight and tense affair on Saturday when Leeds United host Burnley but admits both promotion favourites are still a work-in-progress at this early point of the season.
Leeds leapfrogged Burnley going into the international break after a convincing 2-0 win at home to Hull City, a result which handed Daniel Farke a third straight clean sheet and fourth league game without defeat. The Whites look to have overcome early-season concerns and take promise from a string of impressive debuts for their recent arrivals.
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Hide AdBurnley came flying out the blocks with two straight wins and nine goals scored, but a massive late-summer exodus stalled progress and they took just one point from meetings with Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers before the break. Both they and Leeds are widely expected to be in and around the top two places come May and Prutton expects Saturday’s clash to reflect that, although he has backed the home side to gain an early advantage in the promotion race.
“As we chatted earlier on this week, they (Leeds) are in a better position points-wise than they were this time last year, which ended up with them being on 90 points and just missing out on automatics,” Prutton told Sky Sports’ Championship predictions podcast. “So early work looks promising, obviously making up for star players that moved on, that was their next challenge.
“You can say something similar with Burnley. I was impressed with the opening portion of their game against Blackburn, I was more impressed with Blackburn’s resilience when they went down to 10 men and managed the second half in that particular East Lancashire derby.
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Hide Ad“So questions for them to answer, and a really, really cracking game so early in the season, because all the eyes are on these two, they’re expected to be at least in the top six if not the top two, and Saturday will see where they’re at with these works in progress. Close game, 2-1 Leeds.”
The similarities between Burnley and Leeds are rife, with both undergoing major change over the summer as the need for quality is balanced out by financial demands. The pair lost more than £200million worth of talent during the transfer window but also represent the league’s two biggest spenders, with new signings settling in at both ends.
Like Farke, Clarets boss Scott Parker also has two Championship promotions to his name and was hired by Turf Moor chiefs with the remit of taking them back to the Premier League. Burnley are Leeds’ closest rivals in terms of squad value this season and sit just behind Farke’s side as second favourites to go up.