Burnley Premier League Odds: Parker may have to fetch his coat early

Scott Parker's first season at Burnley was a successful one as he masterminded their return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and in the process, the Clarets became the first team in EFL history to reach 100 points (including adjusted tallies) and not win their league title.

The 44-year-old now returns to the Premier League, where he hasn't enjoyed much success as a manager. He was relegated twice with Fulham and sacked by AFC Bournemouth after four games of the 2022/23 season. Without further ado, here are Betfred's Burnley Premier League Odds for the upcoming campaign, and a prediction on where they will finish.

Burnley's defence was the foundation of their success last season as they conceded just 16 goals in 46 Championship games, 14 fewer than champions Leeds United. Between the sticks, James Trafford was superb, but the England international has been lured back to his former club, Manchester City, with Newcastle United's second-choice shot-stopper, Martin Dubravka, brought in as his replacement.

Parker has added further experience to his back line in the shape of Kyle Walker (Man City), but his best years are beyond him, so it's perhaps not the coup some people think.

Another key component of the Clarets' defence last season, CJ Egan-Riley, has left on a free to French giants Olympique Marseille, so while keeping the ball out of the net was their real strength in the Championship, they've lost 40% of their first-choice back five, and will obviously find things much tougher in the Premier League anyway, up against some of world football's most lethal forwards.

Premier League Odds

Burnley have spent significant sums on Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja (both Chelsea) and Loum Tchaouna (Lazio), but none of their signings have been particularly eye-catching, which is why they are such short odds to be relegated this season.

It's all gearing up towards being another tough year for Burnley and Parker in the Premier League, with the Clarets considered huge underdogs.

Transfer Business:

In: Marcus Edwards (Sporting), Jaidon Anthony (AFC Bournemouth), Zian Flemming (Millwall), Max Weiss (Karlsruher), Quilindschy Hartman (Feyenoord), Axel Tuanzebe (Ipswich Town), Loum Tchaouna (Lazio), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jacob Bruun Larsen (Stuttgart), Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Bashir Humphreys (all Chelsea), Martin Dubravka (Newcastle United).

Out: James Trafford (Manchester City), Jonjo Shelvey (free), Nathan Redmond (free), CJ Egan-Riley (free, Olympique Marseille), Dara Costelloe (Wigan Athletic), Josh Brownhill (free), Andreas Hountondji (loan, St. Pauli), Han-Noah Massengo (Augsburg).

Key Player: Armando Broja

Losing Trafford and Egan-Riley this summer was a big blow for Burnley, but as well as the defensive duo, the Clarets have seen captain and last season's 18-goal top scorer, Josh Brownhill, depart on a free.

The only other Burnley player to get into double digits for league goals was Dutch forward Zian Flemming, who has never played in the Premier League before, while third in the charts was Jaidon Anthony (eight), who struck just twice in 33 top-tier outings for Bournemouth across 2022 and 2023.

Attacking signings, then, were top of the agenda during the summer, but so far, only Broja and Tchaouna have been brought in.

Football Odds

Tchaouna scored just once in 24 Serie A appearances for Lazio last season, while Broja, after a promising breakout campaign on loan at Southampton in 2021/22, has struggled with injuries in the last couple of years and has scored just twice across the last three league campaigns.

I'm not suggesting that Broja is likely to be a success in Lancashire, but after costing a reported £20m, Burnley really need him to stay injury-free and score 10+ to stand a chance of survival.

To me, it was a big sum to spend on someone who has done so little in the past few years, so Parker's legacy could rest on this one signing.

Prediction: 20th

You won't find many people disagreeing with this prediction.

Burnley were as solid as a rock last season, but they lacked fluency going forward, despite easing to a second-placed finish.

The Clarets will have to step things up in that regard this year, but I just don't see where the goals are going to come from, while they have lost three key starters from last season, Trafford, Egan-Riley and Brownhill, so they can't just rely on the ol' dependables.

This has tears written all over it, with an early-season sacking for Parker feeling inevitable.

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