Burnley have a massive weakness that Everton can exploit

It’s difficult to think of a bigger game in the recent history of Everton Football Club than the one they face on Wednesday night. Frank Lampard’s side travel to Burnley in a fixture that could seal the fate of both sides in this year’s battle for Premier League survival.

Going into the clash, the Toffees sit 17th and three points clear of the relegation zone, with two games in hand over Watford in 18th. However, opponents Burnley have played the same number of matches and are just four points behind, meaning victory for them would close the gap to just one point with both teams having played the same number of matches.

That’s a daunting prospect for Everton, particularly given the difficult fixtures that lie ahead in these final weeks of the season. Alternatively though, the game also presents the Blues with a huge opportunity to open up a seven-point gap on their hosts, and a six-point one on Watford in the relegation zone - with a game in hand. A victory would therefore be huge in Everton’s bid for survival.

With that in mind, there’s one decisive factor that tends to be crucial in Burnley matches, and that’s who scores the game’s first goal. The opening goal of a game is often important and multiple studies have determined in the Premier League, the team who scores first tends to win the match 7/10 times. Burnley have only managed to score first in eight of their 28 league matches so far, but did go on to avoid defeat in six of those games.

Yet their record when conceding first is a very poor one and Sean Dyche’s men are one of just two Premier League sides still yet to have won a league game from behind this season (D5, L13). A big cause of this is their issues in attack.

Burnley have scored just 22 goals all