A 5-1 battering at home to Everton last time out ensured Burnley would spend Christmas in the relegation zone.
It was another humbling defeat as the Clarets continue to ship goals from all angles...yet one statistic suggests that Sean Dyche's side should have got a point out of the contest.
Too many mistakes
The Expected Goals formula is becoming commonplace in Premier League football. It is a now a regular feature of the matchday statistics packages and is used by numerous managers to help assess their team's performances.
The statistic works out how many goals should be scored based upon the number, types and difficulty of attempts throughout the 90 minutes.
Burnley were expected to score 1.62 goals against Everton, compared to the visitors' 1.84. So, a 2-2 draw after rounding up the figures. It underpins just how many mistakes the Clarets made in the contest (at least three goals should have been prevented) and how clinical Marco Silva's side were, netting all but one of their shots on target.
Yet such an outcome does not reflect the story of Burnley's first 19 games this season.
Burnley should be bottom
Looking at the eye-opening statistic for the first half of the season, if all teams scored and conceded what is expected of them, then Burnley would be bottom of the Premier League table - albeit two points better off than the 12 they have now.
Fulham would have five more points than they currently have to total 16, matched by Newcastle who would join them on the same number of points, just one behind Huddersfield.
The Clarets have done what has been expected of them in front of goal - scoring 17 compared to the 16.73 expected goals scored. Yet they have conceded three more than they should have.
However, this is much better than a handful of their relegation rivals and accounts for their position of 18th rather than 20th. Huddersfield have conceded five more than expected, Cardiff and Southampton are six goals worse off than they should be and Fulham have shipped seven more than predicted.
Either goalkeeper Joe Hart is performing better than his opposite numbers at the foot of the table or opponents are more wasteful against the Clarets. If teams become more clinical, as Everton were on Boxing Day, then Burnley have a huge problem on their hands.
Not enough chances for, too many against
So, what does this show? Even though they are matching the expected goals scored, Burnley have created less opportunities than all but Huddersfield. Goals win matches and they are severely limited with the current 5-4-1 system.
Defensively, they need to tighten up. The reason Newcastle are 15th rather than the expected 18th is because they have conceded six goals less than predicted. This will be due to a combination of goalkeeper Martin Dubravka's form and wasteful finishing by opponents - often due to pressure from last-ditch defending which used to be a common feature of Burnley's game.
Even though Burnley's expected goals conceded is closer to the actual goals conceded than their relegation rivals, they have seen more chances created against them than any other Premier League team.