Burnley will have had over ten days to stew on a 2-0 defeat at Everton in their last Premier League outing by the time kick-off rolls around at Turf Moor. The Clarets are nine points adrift of safety with just nine games remaining, and it looks like their sole objective for the remainder of the season is to avoid the ignominy of finishing bottom of the Premier League for the first time ever.
Running out of Premier League games to pull off the great escape, relegation-threatened Burnley play host to European hopefuls Bournemouth at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams settled for a point apiece in the reverse fixture at the Vitality Stadium where a 1-1 draw was played out in December.
Burnley remain in danger of suffering their third Premier League relegation in five seasons following a miserable run of just one win in 20 games (D6 L13) dating back to the beginning of November, picking up fewer points (nine) than any other team in the division.
Coming from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park has been the main high point of 2026 for Scott Parker’s side, while positives were also taken from respectable score draws with Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, but relegation is looming for the Clarets.
In a campaign that "might be seen as a failure" in Parker’s view, Burnley are under immense pressure to pick up points - ideally wins - if they wish to preserve their top-flight status. With nine games remaining, they sit 19th in the table and nine points adrift of both 18th-placed West Ham United and 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, facing the latter in mid-April.
Burnley are without a win in their last 10 Premier League home matches (D3 L7) since beating Leeds United 2-0 in October. In their league history, the Clarets have never endured an 11-game winless run on home soil in a single season.
They head into Saturday’s game with Bournemouth without a win in their last three top-flight encounters with the Cherries (D1 L2), having previously won six of their first eight meetings (L2). Burnley’s last league win over Bournemouth was a 3-0 home success in February 2020.
Across the last 10 Premier League games, only Man United (21), Arsenal (19), Man City (19) and Chelsea (18) have accumulated more points than Bournemouth (17), who have posted four wins, five draws and just one defeat in that time.
Since beating Everton 2-1 away from home on February 10, the Cherries have drawn each of their last three league games against West Ham United, Sunderland and Brentford, playing out a goalless stalemate at home to the latter a week last Tuesday.
No team has drawn more games in the Premier League this season than Andoni Iraola’s side (13). They have drawn three of those matches against promoted clubs, as well as losing one, making them one of just three top-flight sides without a win against these teams so far, along with Leeds (D1 L2) and Wolves (L3).
Bournemouth, who last registered four consecutive league draws between April and August 2000 (five), currently sit ninth in the Premier League table and just four points behind seventh-placed Brentford with nine games left to play, so a late push for the European spots is certainly on the cards.
The Cherries’ record away against Saturday’s opponents Burnley leaves a lot to be desired, though, as they have won just two of their 15 league games at Turf Moor (D6 L7). Having said that, those two victories have come across their last four visits, including a 2-0 success last time out in March 2024.
Burnley must try and take the game to Bournemouth and pose a greater attacking threat if they wish to claim the three valuable points they need to boost their slim survival hopes.
However, the Cherries have looked stronger in recent weeks and they should have enough quality in the final third, with the likes of Evanilson, Rayan, Tavernier and possible Kroupi, to outscore their opponents at Turf Moor.
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Humphreys, Worrall, Esteve; Walker, Ugochukwu, Florentino, Hannibal, Pires; Anthony, Foster
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Adams, Scott; Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier; Evanilson
With the Turf Moor fixture yet to kick off, its significance is already clear from the standings. Burnley sit 19th on 19 points with a -26 goal difference, firmly in the relegation zone and labelled “Relegation - Championship”. Bournemouth arrive in 9th with 40 points and a -2 goal difference, a full 21 points ahead.
For Burnley, this is about immediate breathing room and keeping any survival narrative alive in the final stretch. For Bournemouth, a win would consolidate a comfortable top-half position and maintain outside hopes of pushing towards the European conversation, while a slip would underline mid-table stagnation.
This fixture sets two contrasting trajectories against each other. Burnley are fighting to keep survival hopes credible, needing to turn fragile form and poor home numbers into a late-season surge. Bournemouth are aiming to convert solidity and mid-table security into a springboard for a strong top-half finish, using Turf Moor as a test of their upward ceiling.
