Wood brace sees Burnley past Norwich City

By Nicholas MendolaSep 21, 2019, 12:07 PM EDT

Chris Wood scored a pair of early goals as Burnley punished Norwich City 2-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday.

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The Clarets rise seventh with eight points, while Norwich City has six points and will finish the weekend on the outskirts of the relegation zone.

Three things we learned

1. Wood comes good: Chris Wood entered the match with zero goals through five matches after scoring 10 in each of his first two Premier League campaigns with the Clarets. He’s got two now, using his noggin and boot to score a pair of typical Chris Wood goals. Very encouraging for the Kiwi striker, and his coach Sean Dyche.

2. Canaries defense undone: The many injuries to Norwich City’s back line have been well-documented, and the club would have the league’s worst goal conceded total were it not for Watford’s abject display at Man City on Saturday. Teemu Pukki and the win over Man City are great stories, but these are the concession numbers for Norwich over six matches: 4, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2. The one is lowly Newcastle.

3. Pope delivers a clean sheet: Twenty-seven year old Nick Pope isn’t even the first Nick Pope that shows up in a Google search, but he’s proven two England goalkeepers second-best in his time at Burnley. There wasn’t a lot for Pope to do, but his early save on Teemu Pukki is not something to be overlooked from the win.

Man of the Match: It’s Wood, but give a lot of credit to Ashley Westwood. The 29-year-old has been a service machine for Burnley the past two seasons, and also went in for five tackles on Saturday.

What a start.

You were almost putting 1-0 on the board when Teemu Pukki cut his defender to the inside and shot on goal, but Nick Pope made a fine save in the 8th minute.

Burnley went ahead two minutes later through Wood, who was the near post difference maker at the front of a sea of bodies from a corner kick.

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Wood made it 2-0 with another leaping header, the Kiwi finisher putting the defensively-solid Clarets in fine position with 76 minutes to play.

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Watch Live: Man City v. Watford headlines 10am ET games

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 21, 2019, 9:45 AM EDT

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Three Premier League games take center stage at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, as potential upsets are the focus.

[ STREAM: Every PL game live here ]

Manchester City aim to get back on track as they play Watford, while Norwich head to Burnley and Everton host Sheffield United.

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You can access additional games by purchasing the new “Premier League Pass” via NBC Sports Gold which also includes an extensive selection of shoulder programming such as Premier League News, Premier League Today and NBC Sports originals such as Premier League Download and much more.

[ STREAM: “Goal Rush” here ]

For those of you familiar with the Premier League Breakaway Show during busy days (Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Championship Sunday etc.) in the PL, this will follow that model of being similar to the NFL RedZone with action shown from all of the games in the 10 a.m. ET window. More info is available here.

The schedule for the three games at 10 a.m. ET is below and you can stream each game live by clicking on the links.

10 a.m. ET: Man City v. Watford – NBCSN [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Burnley v. Norwich – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Everton v. Sheffield United – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]

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Burnley steals point from Brighton at death

By Nicholas MendolaSep 14, 2019, 11:57 AM EDT

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Neal Maupay‘s early second half goal looked enough to score Brighton and Hove Albion a win over sleepy Burnley on Saturday at the Amex Stadium, but Jeff Hendrick had other ideas.

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The 27-year-old Irishman was making his 100th Burnley appearance and scored in stoppage time to let the Clarets snare a point despite being out-classed on the day in a 1-1 draw.

Brighton and Burnley now both have five points, with the Clarets sitting two places higher in 12th.

Three things we learned

Maupay delivers — The 23-year-old Frenchman’s chances of success in the Premier League look better by the day, and Maupay’s second top flight goal gave Graham Potter‘s men a 51st minute lead.
Potter’s passers — At the hour mark, the Seagulls had 62 percent possession, and were passing at 79 percent compared to Burnley’s 63. No surprise they led 1-0.
Clarets are never dead — Chris Wood came close to getting a point out of nothing, as Sean Dyche‘s men again proved they can look out-of-it all day only to produce a gilt-edged chance. They produced another late, as 50-times capped Republic of Ireland midfielder Hendrick delivered the goods.

Man of the Match: Solly March — The good-crossing wide man delivered again.

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Burnley started the match well, but the second stanza was all about the Seagulls finding a way past Nick Pope.

Maupay nearly scored at the start of the second half, with Pope saving for a corner, and later got on the board for the first time since Opening Day at Watford.

Solly March loves a good cross, and his pass to Maupay at the penalty spot provided a deserved opener.

Credit Pope for keeping Burnley in the match, and Wood probably should’ve had it 1-1 with a redirect and a surprising point for the Clarets. The ex-Brighton striker hit his effort wide of the goal.

Republic of Ireland youth Aaron Connolly, 19, came on late for Maupay to make his Premier League debut.

A fellow Irishman stole his thunder, though, as 50-times capped Hendrick scored on Burnley’s first shot on target.

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Watch Live: Man United-Leicester, Wolves-Chelsea headlines 10am ET games

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 14, 2019, 9:38 AM EDT

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Five Premier League games take place at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, with plenty of heavyweights in action.

[ STREAM: Every PL game live here ]

Manchester United host Leicester City and Chelsea to Wolves in two intriguing clashes as two giants aim to quash any hopes the Midlands clubs have of finishing above them this season.

Tottenham face an equally tricky test at home against away day specialists Crystal Palace, as Mauricio Pochettino has plenty of issues to address. Saints travel to Sheffield United and Brighton host Burnley in the other two games.

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[ STREAM: “Goal Rush” here ]

The schedule for all five games at 10 a.m. ET is below and you can stream each game live by clicking on the links.

10 a.m. ET: Tottenham v. Crystal Palace – NBCSN [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Brighton v. Burnley – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Man United v. Leicester – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Sheffield United v. Southampton – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]
10 a.m. ET: Wolves v. Chelsea – NBC Sports Gold [STREAM]

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Burnley boss Dyche will give Drinkwater shot at redemption

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By Nicholas MendolaSep 12, 2019, 11:50 AM EDT

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Danny Drinkwater is going to get another chance to live up to expectations at Burnley.

The 29-year-old Chelsea loanee suffered an ankle injury in controversial circumstances, reportedly thrown out of a bar and jumped by a group of upset patrons. The incident comes less than six months after a drunk driving arrest.

[ MORE: USMNT’s first year with Berhalter ]

Manager Sean Dyche says the incident should be “just a blip” for Drinkwater at Turf Moor, and that the players will an opportunity to do the right thing and make an impact on the field once healthy.

From The Lancashire Telegraph:

“He’s certainly old enough and wise enough to know you do whatever you can to not get in scrapes but sometimes it happens. We’ve been big over our time here – you can’t just talk about development when it’s good news, you also have to work with players if things are not quite as good.

“It’s been more that sort of situation, have a chat with him and say, what happened first of all, what was the situation that led to it. OK, let’s move away from that, now where to do we go from here. So I think that’s where we’re at.”

Drinkwater is expected to miss a few weeks with his ankle injury, with Burnley set to face Brighton, Norwich City, Aston Villa, and Everton.

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