Mark Lawrenson is backing Burnley to beat West Ham United today.
General view inside Turf Moor
Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Burnley will beat West Ham United 2-0 at Turf Moor this afternoon.
Burnley head into the game having enjoyed a strong Premier League campaign, with survival comfortably achieved well before the final day of the season.
It’s the first time that Burnley have managed to achieve Premier League survival, and manager Sean Dyche will be looking to end the season on a high with a home win.
In the reverse fixture against today’s opponents West Ham, Burnley lost 1-0 at the London Stadium in December, and will need to improve considerably this afternoon to claim all three points.
The Hammers appeared to have given their fans a rousing end to the season by beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at the London Stadium earlier this month, but they came crashing back down to earth with a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
All in all, it has been a disappointing season for West Ham, who have not only struggled to settle in their first season at the London Stadium, but have also made poor signings, suffered a number of injuries and sold star man Dimitri Payet in January.
West Ham will want to end the season on a high as they travel to Turf Moor, but pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Burnley will claim a 2-0 victory.
Mark Lawrenson
Lawrenson added that he thinks West Ham must sign better players this summer as they have been ‘very average’ this season, whilst adding praise for Burnley having achieved Premier League survival.
“Other than their win over Tottenham, West Ham’s season has tailed off in the last few weeks,” said Lawrenson. “Yes, the Hammers are missing some injured players but they have been very average for a while. When their fans look at this season, it is their new stadium and their summer recruitment that have been the bugbears for them. For a while it looked like Slaven Bilic’s side were going to get dragged into a relegation skirmish but they are going to get a mid-table finish, which is probably what they deserve. West Ham are not a bad side when everyone is fit but, if they want a repeat of their seventh-place finish in 2015-16, they definitely need to sign some better players.”
“Burnley’s target this season was to stay up and they have done it. It is mission accomplished and they can build again, which is great. Their home form has been the key and I think it helped that they got an ‘extra’ match at Turf Moor early in the season – the venue of their game with Liverpool in August was switched because Anfield was not ready. They won that game which not only gave them points on the board but it also set the tone for the rest of the campaign. They have never really been under much pressure,” he added.
What is your prediction for Burnley v West Ham United?
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