U21 PREVIEW: WATFORD V BURNLEY

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Clarets round off campaign at Vicarage Road against Hornets

2023-05-08T07:00:00.000Z

U21 PREVIEW: WATFORD V BURNLEY

Clarets round off campaign at Vicarage Road against Hornets

2023-05-08T07:00:00.000Z

Clarets round off campaign at Vicarage Road against Hornets

The final stop of the U21s season takes them to Vicarage Road on Tuesday afternoon, 9th May, where Watford await in the last game of the Professional Development League campaign (1pm KO).

Last Friday saw Burnley reach the final of the Lancashire Senior Cup for the second season running, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the last four of the competition at the Burnley Training Centre.

Barrow AFC now await in the final following goals from Joe Westley, Seb Thompson & Deji Sotona, though that showdown with the Bluebirds will take place as part of the pre-season schedule in the build-up to the 2023/24 campaign.

Accordingly, Tuesday’s game provides the last outing in 2022/23, and the Clarets head to Hertfordshire knowing that a play-off berth is no longer within reach.

Only the top two from the PDL’s northern & southern sections respectively progress into the play-offs, and as Sheffield United had sealed the northern title some weeks ago, it has been a race for second.

Defeat to Swansea City at Turf Moor in their last league outing put the Clarets out of the play-off picture, now sat 7th.

Four points behind both Wigan Athletic in 2nd & Hull City on 3rd with just the one game remaining, Burnley’s highest possible finish is 4th, and even a defeat on Tuesday couldn’t see them finish lower than 7th.

Opponents Watford meanwhile are 10th in the Southern Section, bottom of the table with 21 points from their 27 games played so far.

The Hornets will occupy that last spot in the league regardless of the result on Tuesday afternoon, six points behind Colchester United directly above them, who Burnley recently beat away from home.

Watford are headed up by Omer Riza, who as a player came through Arsenal’s academy, and as a manager has previously taken charge of Leyton Orient at senior level.

Despite a difficult season, Riza’s Golden Boys last time out at home earned a point from a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday with midfielder Adrian Blake on target. More recently though, they did lose out 3-0 away at Coventry City, that an 18th league defeat this term.

U21 PREVIEW: WATFORD V BURNLEY - Image 3

Tuesday’s game will provide a first meeting between Burnley and the Hornets at this level for over four years, with Lewis Richardson on target in a 2-0 win back in March 2019 the last time they met.

That was the striker’s first-ever goal at this level having turned 16 less than a month earlier. Tinashe Chakwana was also on the scoresheet that afternoon at the Burnley Training Centre.

This time around at Vicarage Road, supporters are welcome with tickets available to buy HERE. Also available at the ticket office on the day, they cost £5 for adults, with Over 65’s priced at £3 and Under 18’s at £1.

If you can’t make the trip, follow along with our coverage on Twitter via @ClaretsAcademy, and look out for the post-match report here on burnleyfc.com.