Burnley v Watford live commentary: Premier League strugglers in six-point battle

The Hornets are two points ahead of Sean Dyche's men and just outside the drop zone but have played a game more and have suffered four straight defeats.

Burnley picked up a valuable point last time out against European hopefuls West Ham but are on a run of three Premier League matches without a goal.

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This Premier League clash will take place on Wednesday, December 15.

It will be held at the Amex Stadium and will kick off at 7:30pm.

This game will be live and exclusive ONLY on the talkSPORT app with coverage starting at 7pm - here's all you need to know on how to download!

Commentary will come from Mark Wilson and former England defender Micky Gray.

Burnley v Watford: Team news

The hosts will be desperate to welcome back summer signing Maxwel Cornet back from a thigh problem in midweek but the Ivorian faces a late fitness test.

Burnley are also sweating on the returns of Dale Stephens and Connor Roberts but Ashley Barnes is definitely out as he recovers from a thigh tear.

Watford meanwhile have a number of absentees with Peter Etebo, Ben Foster, Nicolas N'Koulou, Ismaila Sarr and Kwadwo Baah all out for the away side.

Adam Masina is also struggling with a thigh injury while this fixture might also come too soon for Francisco Sierralta.

Burnley v Watford: What has been said?

Dyche recently offered an update on the club's January transfer window plans.

"The new ownership have put a bit more in and they want to when they can, but we're not going to hit the big mark," the Burnley boss told talkSPORT.

"We're not going to hit £20m-plus, we're still under that, which sounds mad, but that's the level that it is now.

"For a real gamechanger, or players who are almost definite to change what you do - we were nicking Nick Pope for £1.5m out of Charlton, or Tarky [James Tarkowski] for £4m or £5m out of Brentford - that's an impossible task now.

"To get those real game changing players in the current market, unless you snag one, like Maxwel's done well for us so far. It's still early but he's done really well for us.

"Top price signing we can make - and guess what? He's looking like a very effective player."

Burnley v Watford: Match facts

Burnley have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three league games against Watford (W2 D1), as many as they'd managed in their previous 20 against the Hornets.

Watford have won just one of their last 12 away league games against Burnley (D4 L7), winning 3-1 in the Premier League in August 2018.

Burnley have won just two of their 12 Premier League home games on Wednesdays (D5 L5) - 1-0 against Man Utd in August 2009 (their first ever victory in the competition) and 3-2 against Aston Villa in January last season.

Watford have taken just two points from their 39 available away from home in Premier League games played on Wednesdays (W0 D2 L11), with those points coming at Stoke in January 2018 (0-0) and Bournemouth in January 2019 (3-3).

Burnley have won just one of their last seven Premier League home games against promoted clubs (D4 L2), though that victory did come in their last such game against Brentford in October (3-1).

Burnley have failed to score in each of their last three Premier League games, attempting just 25 shots (8.3 per game) in those fixtures, with just three of those on target (1 per game). The Clarets last went four league matches without scoring in November 2020.

Watford are the only side without a Premier League clean sheet this season. They've conceded in each of their last 26 games in the competition, the longest run without a clean sheet by any club in the division since Burnley's run of 29 games between November 2009 and August 2014.

Burnley have won just one of their 15 league matches this season (D8 L6); only in 1889-90 and 1979-80 (both 0) have they had fewer wins at this stage of a league campaign. Before this season, just one of the last 10 sides to win just one (or fewer) of their first 15 games of a Premier League campaign avoided relegation, with Southampton doing so in 2018-19.

Watford boss Claudio Ranieri has lost each of his last five Premier League games against sides managed by English managers, including two defeats against Sean Dyche's Burnley in that run. The Italian had only lost four of his previous 32 such clashes in the competition (W23 D5).

Emmanuel Dennis has been directly involved in nine goals in his last seven Premier League games for Watford (5 goals, 4 assists), having a hand in 64% of the goals the Hornets have scored in these games (9/14).