Burnley travel to Lincoln City for a Championship clash at LNER Stadium on Saturday afternoon, looking to build on their recent away victory at Watford. The Clarets sit 22nd in the table with just eight points from 11 games, 15 points behind leaders Swansea, and need a result to start moving up the standings.
Burnley's form has been mixed, with one win, two draws and two losses in their last five matches. A 4-0 demolition of Watford on October 10 was the high point, but they followed it with a 2-2 home draw against Charlton and a 1-2 home defeat to Wolves last Wednesday. In that loss, Jamie Vardy gave Burnley an early lead before Wolves scored twice to take the points.
Lincoln City, who are 18th, have struggled recently with one draw and three losses in their last four games. They were thrashed 6-0 at home by West Ham on October 14. Their most recent outing was a 2-2 draw away at Millwall.
Both teams fielded settled 4-2-3-1 formations in their last matches. Burnley's lineup against Wolves featured goalkeeper G. Coudert, a back four of K. Walker, H. Ekdal, Igor and Lucas Pires, with Max Alleyne and R. Hatate in midfield. The attacking trio of L. Ramazani, J. Laurent and J. Bruun Larsen supported striker J. Vardy. Lincoln's last starting eleven included G. Wickens in goal, with A. Coubiș, D. Elerewe, S. Bradley and A. Reach in defence. The midfield duo of E. Sorensen and T. Mandroiu operated behind forward J. Stokes.
Burnley will be without defender H. Ekdal due to a hamstring strain picked up in the Wolves match, while Lincoln report a fully fit squad. Burnley's next fixture after this trip is another away game, continuing a challenging run on the road. The Clarets have scored 16 goals this season but conceded 21, leaving them with a negative goal difference of five. A win at Lincoln would provide a vital boost ahead of the next set of fixtures.
