Manchester United vs Burnley prediction: All stats and trends that you need to know about this EPL 2025 fixture

Two games into a new Premier League season and life at Manchester United continues to be hard, be it for the players or the manager or the fans. While they did show signs of promise in the season opener against Arsenal, Ruben Amorim's men still ended up losing 0-1 at Old Trafford. The good part, however, for the Red Devils was that there was a lot of fluidity in their gameplay which suggested brighter things going forward. That, though, didn't happen against Fulham as old bad habits of the past haunted them yet again with defensive mistakes turning their potential three points to a solitary one point.

They are getting ready to host Burnley who have started relatively better this season when compared to their more fancied opponents. Having been promoted back to the Premier League, the season didn't start well for Burnley who were thumped 0-3 by Tottenham in their first game. However, they fed off the lethargy from the other newly promoted side Sunderland, thereby registering a 2-0 win to get their campaign underway. Burnley aren't an entertaining side but have it in them to frustrate opponents with their defensive nous and physicality. They do have decent attacking quality as well.

Tactical battle

Manchester United's 3-4-3 formation under Amorim will once again be on display while Burnley have a defensive version of the 4-2-3-1. To be fair to the hosts, they haven't quite adapted to Amorim's diverse formation yet, given the historic habit of having four at the back. It is another matter altogether that the United management haven't gone all out to get the right players for Amorim's tactics. The gameplay from the Red Devils has oscillated between high-tempo to dead slow, almost as drastically as mood swings. Which United turns up for the Burnley game is anybody's guess. The home side would do well to know that their opponents are always ready for a dogged performance, so goal-scoring won't be straightforward.

At the same time, should United do the mistake of taking things lightly, Burnley have more than enough quality to damage Amorim's men. The shocking second-round exit in the Carabao Cup to a much lower tier side Grimsby Town must still be stinging United but it will be important for them to put that behind them, as difficult as it is. Burnley will come out all guns blazing with their nothing-to-lose attitude and given United's wobbly form, this could make for an intense game. Their duels have seldom been high-scoring and this also could see a similar trend.

Last 5 head-to-head games in the Premier League

12/1/2021  - Burnley 0 Manchester United 1

30/12/2021 - Manchester United 3 Burnley 1

8/2/2022   - Manchester United 1 Burnley 1

23/9/2023  - Burnley 0 Manchester United 1

27/4/2024  - Manchester United 1 Burnley 1

Goal trends and prediction

Across all competitions, Manchester United have a 67-45 win-loss record against Burnley with 25 games drawn between them. Current form and the tactical guide of both teams suggest another low-scoring game with a lot of physical intensity. The last ten Premier League games between the two teams have only seen a total of 24 goals, meaning an average of 2.4 goals per game. This average is slightly inflated due to two 3-1 wins that United had in 2021.

This could be a tricky fixture for United but they might just have enough hunger to get all three points.

Prediction: Manchester United 2 Burnley 0