Burnley play host to Everton on Saturday afternoon looking to increase their two-point advantage over the Toffees in the Premier League table.

Marco Silva finds himself under pressure at the Merseyside outfit, with four defeats coming from their opening seven games of the season.

Match preview

Sean Dyche would have been disappointed with the return from games against Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers during the opening weeks of the campaign, matches which the Clarets did enough to claim at least four points rather than just the one.

However, Burnley have impressed since the last international break, recording a win and two draws from fixtures against Brighton & Hove Albion, Norwich City and Aston Villa respectively.

Dyche would have placed high importance on avoiding defeat against teams who could emerge as direct rivals in the battle for survival, and Burnley now sit four points clear of the drop zone.

There will no doubt be a desire to build on their recent streak against Everton, Leicester City and Chelsea, all of whom should prove difficult tests, but this side can play with a certain degree of freedom given their form since the beginning of the season.

Everton, on the other hand, must find a way to end a run of four defeats from five matches, a period which has left the club just two points above the bottom three.

Given their transfer outlay in the summer, Silva would have had high hopes of a top-six finish, but that will not be achieved until the Portuguese finds a solution at both ends of the pitch.

The defence will be his biggest concern with 12 goals being conceded in their last five outings, something which is not ideal ahead of facing the in-form partnership of Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood at Turf Moor.

While there is no doubting that Everton possess the quality to turn around their fortunes, Silva may not be the man to oversee that should results not improve in the coming weeks.

Burnley form: DLLDWD

Everton form: WWLLWL

Team News

Dyche has revealed that Jack Cork is a fitness doubt for Burnley having suffered a fractured shoulder last weekend.

However, aside from Danny Drinkwater, who is continuing to recover from an ankle problem, Dyche has no more injuries to contend with ahead of the weekend.

Everton have been handed a double boost with the news that Andre Gomes and Theo Walcott are each available after abdominal and head injuries respectively.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin is also making good progress from a thigh injury, although the summer signing remains several weeks away from a return.

Burnley possible starting lineup: Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Piters; Gudmundsson, Hendrick, Westwood, McNeil; Barnes; Wood

Everton possible starting lineup: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne; Schneiderlin, Delph; Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin

We say: Burnley 1-2 Everton

While Burnley have shown the better form of late, Everton need a result to get their campaign back on track. With that in mind, we are backing the visitors to come away with the three points, potentially via a late goal.