After the first four Premier League matches of the 25-26 season, Burnley sit in 17^th place and just above the relegation zone.  Of the three promoted teams for this season, Burnley currently have the lowest ranking with Leeds in 16^th and Sunderland in 7^th.

When it comes to scoring goals, Burnley are producing above their expected goals metric. Burnley have scored 4 goals and only expected to score 3.2, resulting in a G – xG of +0.8, which is the 6^th highest ranking in the Premier League currently (for reference, Tottenham lead G – xG with +3.2 and Manchester United have the lowest with -5.9).

While Burnley have been able to convert their chances, why is it that they are sitting so low in the Premier League table? In this week’s article, we take a closer look at Burnley’s passing metrics that provide some insights into where they are falling short in comparison to other Premier League teams.

Burnley’s Passing and Possession Problems

To date in the 25-26 Premier League season, Burnley have the worst passing completion record. Out of 1292 attempted passes, they have only completed 895 of them, resulting in a 69.3% completion record.

Out of 1292 attempted passes, Burnley have only completed 895 of them, resulting in a 69.3% completion record.

That is the lowest in the league. 11 teams have a passing completion percentage in the 80’s, 8 teams have a passing completion percentage in 70’s, while Burnley are the only team in the 60’s.

Put in a different way, out of every 10 passes they, they are losing the ball after 3 of those passes. Whereas in comparison, other teams are losing the ball 1 or 2 times per 10 passes they make.

It might not seem like a big difference but over the course of a game or a season, it can add up substantially. The more you lose the ball, the harder you have to work to get it back.

This is also evident in the possession statistic, which Burnley are also the lowest in the league so far this season. Overall possession is at 33.5% after four matches for Burnley.

Furthermore, winning the ball back is especially hard against high possession teams like Tottenham (57.5% average possession) and Liverpool (64.0% average possession) that they have already played this season.

Where the Passing Breaks Down for Burnley

Passes can be split into three categories based on length, short (between 5 and 15-yards), medium (between 15 and 30-yards) and long (over 30-yards).

Completion percentages for short and medium are strong at 86.5% and 77.8% respectively. To note, Burnley still rank low in the Premier League compared to other teams for those distances at 16^th and 20^th for short and medium, respectively.

However, the long passes that are classified as over 30-yards in length is an area that really points to some trouble for Burnley.

Out of the 262 attempted passes over 30-yards, Burnley have only completed 95 of those for a 36.3% completion percentage. Said differently, for every 10 attempts to pass the ball over 30-yards, they are losing the ball between 6 or 7 times. That’s a lot.

Out of the 262 attempted passes over 30-yards, Burnley have only completed 95 of those for a 36.3% completion percentage.

Of those 262 attempted long balls, Burnley’s sole goalkeeper this season, Martin Dúbravka, has attempted 115.

On a personal note, he has only completed 25 long passes, resulting in a completion statistic of 21.7%. Again, said differently he’s giving the ball away every 8 out of 10 attempts he’s tried to pass the ball over 30-yards.

To note, Dúbravka does have the lowest completion passes out of all goalies in the Premier League this season when attempting to go long (30+ yards).

While short passes for a goal keeper is not always an option, losing the ball 80% of the time you attempt to go long doesn’t seem like a viable option either.

It will be interesting to see how Burnley’s Manager, Scott Parker reacts to these passing woes and to see if he can help Burnley improve on these metrics in future games.

Summary: What Burnley Must Improve

Well, that’s it for this week. In this post, we took a quick look at Burnley’s performance so far this 25-26 Premier League season. The data is as of the first 4-matches played.

While Burnley have scored more goals than expected (goals greater than xG stat), they are currently sitting in 17^th place and the lowest ranked out of the three promoted teams this season.

A key area where they look to be having trouble is with their passing. In all passing statistics, Burnley are ranked the lowest in the Premier League so far.

This includes overall possession, as well as total distance passed, progressive distance passed, and passing completion percentages on the whole, as well as when broken out by short, medium, and long distances.

There is evidence of a potential positive season for Burley but the data indicates they need to be better at keeping the ball to be able to complete in the Premier League. When the focus is on retaining possession, less time has to be spent chasing down their opponent to win the ball back.

What are your thoughts on Burnley so far? Do you see the potential for them to have a strong season and remain in the Premier League? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

Stay tuned for future posts and please send us a message if there is a specific topic you would like to see covered. Additionally, if you have any ideas on how to improve these articles, please send them our way too.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read these posts!

JC

All data in this article is from fbref.com so, thanks to them!