Burnley will endeavour to rise above the dreaded dotted line when Leicester City pay a visit to Turf Moor on Tuesday evening in the Premier League.
Sean Dyche's side managed to rescue a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday, while the Foxes' most recent contest saw them gain a healthy Europa Conference League win over Randers.
Match preview
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At one point seemingly down and out, Burnley may just be about to pull off another great escape and extend their Premier League stint for at least one more season, with Dyche no stranger to coming up trumps in relegation dogfights.
The Clarets were on the back foot against Palace at Selhurst Park as Jeffrey Schlupp tapped home following some tricky play out wide from talent Michael Olise, but Luka Milivojevic's own goal allowed Burnley to take a point back home to Lancashire.
Having now taken seven points from the last nine on offer amid their recent resurgence, Burnley are now within touching distance of safety, still below the dotted line in 18th, but victory in midweek would take them above Everton, Leeds United and Brentford.
A tally of just three goals conceded from their last seven Premier League outings is reminiscent of the Burnley of old - not all that surprising with Ben Mee and James Tarkowski's partnership now telepathic - and incredibly, only Manchester City and Liverpool have shipped fewer at home this term.
Furthermore, the Clarets have only lost once at home in the Premier League since the start of October - although five of those eight encounters have ended with the spoils shared - and Leicester certainly have a point to prove in midweek.
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It would take a major turnaround in fortunes for Leicester to suddenly surge back into European contention in the Premier League, but Brendan Rodgers's faltering side at least moved one step to Conference League glory by easing past Randers.
After cruising to a 4-1 first-leg victory in the playoff stage, Harvey Barnes took all of two minutes to open the scoring on Randers' turf before James Maddison's brace put the tie to bed, with Stephen Odey netting an inconsequential late goal for the Danish outfit.
A far from simple tie with French powerhouses Rennes now awaits the Foxes - who have played the fewest amount of Premier League games this season by far with 23 - and that wave of postponements has certainly contributed to their 13th-placed ranking in the table.
Three points here could take Leicester as high as 11th depending on their margin of victory, but Rodgers has now overseen a five-game winless run in the top flight - which has supposedly led Manchester United to think again in their manager search - and the under-performing Foxes have also strung together an abysmal four-game losing streak on the road, conceding 12 goals in that stretch.
Burnley may have only won one of their last seven meetings with the 2015-16 top-flight champions, but the two most recent meetings between the Clarets and Leicester have finished level, including a pulsating 2-2 draw at the King Power back in September.
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Team News
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Burnley attacker Matej Vydra is back out on the grass following his hernia operation but will not be ready for Tuesday's game, and Johann Berg Gudmundsson will not be back anytime soon.
Charlie Taylor and Maxwel Cornet were both fit enough for places on the bench at Selhurst Park, and the former will expect to displace Erik Pieters after he left with an injured knee on the hour mark on Saturday, but Dale Stephens has picked up a minor strain.
Cornet is also a strong candidate to take Jay Rodriguez's place at the tip of the attack, and Jack Cork was another early substitution at the weekend, with Ashley Westwood now in the frame to start.
As for Leicester, Jamie Vardy is set to make the squad for the trip to Turf Moor, but the striker will certainly not start after a couple of months out, and James Justin will not be ready just yet.
Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne, Ryan Bertrand and Jonny Evans remain out for the long term, and Rodgers will need to assess the fitness of his entire squad after their European exertions.
Ricardo Pereira ought to be fine to return at right-back after his precautionary absence for the Randers second leg, and it would be surprising not to see Caglar Soyuncu return for Jannik Vestergaard in the heart of defence.
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Roberts, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Lennon, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil; Weghorst, Cornet
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Pereira, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans; Lookman, Maddison, Barnes; Daka
We say: Burnley 1-1 Leicester City
Burnley seldom concede many goals in front of their own supporters, and a Leicester side low on morale domestically and enduring a woeful period on their travels should be in for a rough ride here.
The Foxes' extended period of rest should work in their favour, so we do not expect Rodgers to oversee a fifth Premier League away defeat on the bounce, but a resurgent and disciplined Burnley are more than capable of hanging on for a point.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leicester City win with a probability of 45.99%. A win for Burnley had a probability of 29.21% and a draw had a probability of 24.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leicester City win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.66%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.28%) and 0-2 (7.66%). The likeliest Burnley win was 1-0 (7.39%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.71%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 0-2 win for Leicester City in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Leicester City.
