Burnley Match Preview

West Ham United achieved the double over Burnley last season and the two sides meet again this afternoon, as Nuno Espírito Santo takes his side to Turf Moor for their Sky Bet Championship opener.

Neither Julen Lopetegui, nor Graham Potter lasted a full season as Head-Coach in Stratford so here’s hoping that Espírito Santo can get off to a good start here on the road to achieving the team’s ultimate aim of automatic promotion.

When the two teams faced each other back on 7 February, the Hammers were on an excellent run of form and looked likely to save themselves from relegation. However, a bad last month of 2025/26 means that they are set to meet the Clarets for a second successive campaign and have the chance to beat them for a third consecutive match today.

Espírito Santo’s side may have booked their place in the Carabao Cup second-round eight days ago, thanks to a 3-1 home win over fellow Championship outfit Portsmouth but this is where the real work starts.

Back in May, there were doubts over whether the former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest boss would continue in his current role but after lengthy and detailed discussions with the hierarchy, it was decided that he would stay on and help the team as they try to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The East Londoners generally have a good record here, having not lost since they went down 3-0 in November 2019.

It’s all change in the home dugout this season as Scott Parker parted company with the Clarets by mutual consent back on 30 April, following a 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City. They took their time in finding a replacement for the former Irons’ midfielder and eventually decided that former KRC Genk boss Nicky Hayen was the man to take the hotseat.

Despite losing every pre-season game, the Belgian did steer his side into round two of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over newly-promoted Sky Bet League One outfit Notts County.

Both teams have had the same amount of time to prepare for this game so it will be interesting to see who fares better.

New signings Manor Solomon and Joël Veltman are in contention to make their league debuts after both joined in the last ten days. The club confirmed late on Saturday that Belgian midfielder Arne Engels had completed his transfer from Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Celtic for a Sky Bet Championship record fee of £22m. He arrives having signed an initial five-year contract with the option for a further twelve months. The fans travelling up to Turf Moor may see something of him today but it is very unlikely. If the new recruit isn’t involved however, then Edson Álvarez will retain his place.

In his pre-match news conference ahead of this game on Friday, Espírito Santo stated that Keiber Lamadrid will not be available as he continues to recover from a knee injury picked up fifteen days ago.

Former Hammer and home skipper Josh Cullen is out with a knee injury of his own, meaning he won’t feature against his boyhood club.

The match is a 4pm kick-off with live coverage being screened by Sky Sports from 3:45pm. The referee is Josh Smith.