Burnley fell to a second straight Premier League defeat of the campaign with a 1-0 loss against Southampton at Turf Moor. The result leaves Sean Dyche’s side with much to consider as the transfer window heads into it’s final week.
The Clarets were once again forced to start with both Kevin Long and Jimmy Dunne at the heart of their defence against Southampton, with Matej Vydra also coming into the side for the injured Jay Rodriguez and Dale Stephens also making his debut for Burnley after arriving from Brighton.
It took just five minutes for Southampton to cut through Burnley’s new look defence, with Che Adams and Danny Ings combing well to get in behind both Dunne and Long allowing Ings to tap home the only goal of the contest on his return to Turf Moor.
It was a lead that Southampton looked to hold onto more than having the urgence to go and create chances to kill of the match. Burnley despite having a couple of moments in the second period, with Chris Wood having an effort ruled out for offside and Charlie Taylor testing Alex McCarthy with a fierce strike, did not do enough to get themselves back in the game.
The match highlighted many issues that Dyche is being tested with in the early stages of the campaign and it leaves Burnley needing to do some soul searching to try and turn things around and get their season up and running.
Burnley must invest to avoid relegation scrap
The most obvious thing to have come from the game was Burnley’s desperate need to invest in their squad before the end of the transfer window.
The Clarets have so far only added Stephens to their first team squad this window, and having lost a few players whose contracts ran down at the end of last term replacements are badly needed.
Burnley’s cause is not being helped by having around seven players out with injuries, one of which is James Tarkowski, who might yet secure a move away from Turf Moor before the deadline. However, Dyche was well aware of the need to strengthen the squad even without those injury troubles.
In a game like the one against Southampton where the starting line-up are struggling to find real momentum and cohesion up front to break down a resilient defence, Burnley needed options from the bench but Dyche did not even make a single substitute due to the limit options available to him.
Burnley finished in 10th place last season, but that sort of finish already looks like it will be a tall order for them this time around. In fact just avoiding relegation must be the aim something which they will have to strengthen the squad in order to avoid.
Burnley fail to find their usual Turf Moor reliability
One of the main reasons why Burnley have managed to survive in the Premier League and even go onto enjoy two top half finished since their promotion in 2016, has been their ability to consistently edge out tight matches at home against teams in and around them in the league.
In recent seasons Burnley would have taken at least a point from a game against a Southampton side who struggled to really create any chances apart from their fifth minute strike from Ings.
The Clarets, though, looked flat going forwards and devoid of belief and confidence at times.
Dyche’s side will need to find more creativity if they are going to avoid these kinds of frustrating results and performances moving forwards.
However, much of the creative burden is placed on Dwight McNeil’s shoulders and Burnley need to bring in other players who can take that pressure of the 20-year-old.
There is still a long way to go this season and there is no need to panic just yet, but it has been far from an ideal or convincing start by Burnley. The fans, players and manager need a lift you feel following the Southampton loss and that will only come by them making a couple more additions in the next week.