PREVIEW: Scott Parker faces former club as Burnley host Fulham

Off the back of six successive defeats in the Premier League, Scott Parker’s Burnley look to cut the ever growing gap between themselves and the relegation places as they host Fulham at Turf Moor.

Since beating basement boys Wolves 3-2 at Molineux at the end of October, Burnley have gone on to lose six of their last six Premier League games. Two fewer than their longest ever run and equal to their longest ever in the top flight, this run has seen the Clarets sink back to 19th, just ahead of Wolves who are setting the bar for how poor a team can possibly be in the Premier League. Burnley had to play more than 45 minutes with 10 men at St. James Park against yet only narrowly lost to Newcastle, which will give Parker and his side some hope heading into a crucial fixture.

Last season, Burnley conceded a record low 16 goals in 46 games in the Championship last season yet their defence quite understandably hasn’t held up this time round. They have already shipped 30 goals in 15 matches so far mounting pressure on Parker who, alongside this poor streak of form, has lost 22 out of his 29 Premier League matches during his managerial career.

Their visitors Fulham claimed their first away victory of the season against Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago, but Marco Silva’s side have kick-started their December schedule with back to back defeats against Crystal Palace and Manchester City, their latest defeat at home to Crystal Palace sinking the Cottagers to 15th place and four points outside the relegation places. Since a ball was first kicked in August, Fulham have lost eight of their 15 Premier League games and will head to Turf Moor seeking just their second away win of the season and their first at Burnley since 1951. Despite what is undoubtably a dire record, Fulham are unbeaten against newly-promoted sides in their last 11 outings (W6 D5).

Speculation over the future of head coach Silva has continued throughout the past few months with the Sunderland game back in November being billed as critical for the Portuguese’s future. Silva has maintained his job yet Fulham have failed to kick start any real sense of form leaving them still in the mud at the bottom of the table.

Burnley will continue to be without Zeki Amdouni, Jordan Beyer and Connor Roberts, who all remain side-lined with long term injuries. The game is also more likely than not too soon for defender Axel Tuanzebe. Midfielder Hannibal Mejbri is serving the second of his four match ban for a spitting offence in October and Lucas Pires will serve a one-match suspension following his dismissal against Newcastle last time out. Adding further strain on Parker’s squad is the news that Kyle Walker is suspended for his fifth yellow card and will also not feature.

As for Fulham, Silva has confirmed that Ryan Sessegnon will not recover in time to be featured in Saturday’s game; he will remain in the treatment room alongside Brazilian forward Rodrigo Muniz. Antonee Robinson has been side-lined since September with a knee injury and is ‘progressing well’ but is too far away for any chance of making the squad.

The game will kick off at 17:30 GMT and will be televised on Sky Sports in the UK.

Predicted line-ups