Everton vs Burnley Preview: Blues looking to extend fantastic 2017 home form against poor travellers

Everton will look to continue their fantastic 2017 home form as they face Burnley at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

Ronald Koeman’s side have not lost in the Premier League since the 1-0 Merseyside Derby defeat to Liverpool in December and have matched an Everton record for seven consecutive home victories.

Sean Dyche’s men may be formidable at Turf Moor but are still chasing their first away league win of the season, having drawn four and lost 12.

The Clarets are the only side yet to secure three points away from home in the league this season.

When the two sides last met in October, Burnley secured all three points thanks to a late Scott Arfield winner.

With a win this time around, the Blues can leapfrog an out-of-form Arsenal side into sixth place as the Gunners do not play until Monday night when they travel to Middlesbrough.

Embed from Getty Images

Blues look to maintain magnificent home form

For the past 18 months, Goodison Park had lost it’s fortress atmosphere from years gone by. Everton had become a team that were soft at home and could be easily beaten if the visitors turned up the heat just a little bit.

Now, there’s been a change. Ronald Koeman has overseen some of the best home form in recent memory including a run of seven consecutive wins, Everton’s best run since the early 1990’s.

Since the turn of the year, the Toffees have won their seven home games, scoring 26 goals, conceding five and keeping a further five clean sheets.

As home form goes, Everton's is up there with the best in the Premier League.

Compared to recent seasons, it’s a completely different Everton team lining up most weeks, even if the players have remained the same for the most part.

This season at home, Everton have been an entirely different defensive beast, only conceding 12 goals, the fourth-best total in the league.

Compare that to last season where Everton conceded league's fourth worst 30 goals at home and the difference Koeman has made begins to show.

Attacking wise, Koeman’s side are fourth best in goals scored with 38. With three home games to play, the Blues have already beaten last season’s total of 35.

Whilst Goodison Park isn’t likely to be home for much longer - the Blues are planning a move to the banks of the Mersey river - it is back to being Goodison Park of old, for now.

Embed from Getty Images

Clarets still searching for long-awaited away win

Burnley currently sit 12th in the Premier League table with 36 points and while the table remains congested in the bottom half, they may just need a few more points to be comfortable.

Their dreadful away form in the Premier League has seen them pick up a mere four points away from the confines of Turf Moor.

Despite their lack of away form, the Clarets are tough to beat thanks in part to Everton target Michael Keane.

Keane, formerly of Manchester United, has helped organise a decent defensive unit who have conceded 44 goals this term.

However, 30 of those have come away from home.

The Clarets have been unlucky not to come away with more from plenty of their away trips and aren’t likely to be a pushover for Everton on Saturday afternoon.

Losing Steven Defour through injury on a regular basis has hampered what looked to be an even better season than it has turned out to be for the Clarets.

The Belgian, an Everton target under David Moyes, was Burnley’s main attacking outlet early on this season but has been unable to hit those high notes since.