Being the home side, Burnley should be the ones dictating most of the play. Sunderland’s game plan out of possession will be to sit back and prove hard to break down. They are very effective at doing this, so Burnley will likely be forced to target the wide areas to locate spaces in the opponents half. This in turn increases the prospect of corners.

The Clarets average 5.35 corners in their league contests this season, so they know how to gain such opportunities. This number jumps up significantly to 6.75 focusing just on home league matches, proving how dominant they normally are at Turf Moor. Sunderland concede 5.23 corners on average in their Championship away battles, too.

Burnley are starting to welcome back players from injuries in attacking areas, giving Scott Parker more depth of options available to him. However, there is one man standing above them all at present and that is Zian Flemming. The Dutchman has recorded 5 goals across Burnley’s last 7 in all competitions. He is at the top of his game right now and certainly knows where the goal is.

Over those 7 matches in question, the former Millwall forward has recorded an average of 1.00 shots on target, so he should be good to do the same on Friday. Although playing as a striker, he’ll often drop a little deeper into pockets of space. With Sunderland sitting deep, he won’t be afraid to get shots away from distance if he has to. This ultimately further increases his chances of hitting the target again.

It is likely to be a busy night for the Sunderland back 4. They’ll have to be switched on at all times against a clinical attacker that can score out of nothing. Luke O’Nien will be a part of that defensive line but his recent showings suggests he might make a foul or 2 along the way. The ex-Wycombe Wanderers man has produced 8 fouls over his last 7 Sunderland appearances in all competitions.

It may surprise many to see O’Nien isn’t riding so high in the Sunderland squad foul count this season. However, there is no doubt he is a player that wears his heart on his sleeve, and always puts the team first. It would be no shock to see him produce a tactical foul if he has to, or at the same time get involved in a bit of a scrap with an opposing player. He is just one of those characters!

Connor Roberts is another experienced performer that will take to the field on Friday night. He is undoubtedly someone highly trusted by his manager and he doesn’t really have to lay on too many tactical instructions in his direction. The Wales international won’t make many headlines but he will do what is needed for his team mates. He might be tested however, especially on the counter attack, and even more so knowing how dangerous Sunderland are in the winger positions.

The full back has committed at least 1 foul in each of his last 3 games. It is the first time this season he has gone on a run of 3 doing so. It isn’t like him to do so, but the fact he is has to be taken notice of. With him on this streak, now appears the time to keep him on side for fouling purposes.

Only a few points and places separate Burnley and Sunderland in the Championship table. Clearly there is going to be plenty of respect on show given how both of these teams approach the game. Burnley matches are often low-scoring anyway, in fact the lowest of any side in the league. Parker’s team have only seen an average of 1.54 goals in their league battles.

With Sunderland playing away here, they naturally won’t be too gung-ho in their approach. It isn’t normally so anyway but they’ll be wary of the threat Burnley possess. The hosts should see more of the ball but the visitors are not so dependent on controlling possession for long spells.

Burnley’s season meetings against current top-7 clubs have only averaged 1.125 goals, which is an indication of what Friday night may look like. For Sunderland, in that same category, 4 of their 7 games did not see both teams score, so another low-scoring vibe.

Zian Flemming may not be the one to get all of the Burnley headlines but it wasn’t so long ago that Josh Brownhill was enjoying this. The ex-Bristol City man has now gone 3 appearances without a goal, but he could easily regain his hot streak at any time. Prior to this run, Brownhill netted 3 in 3 games, and 4 in 6 from his midfield berth.

The experienced performer has continued to be a goal threat despite not scoring as regularly as he did before. Brownhill has only gone 4 matches all season without having a shot on goal, one of which was the Blackburn match in his most recent display. However, it was only a few weeks ago this player produced 7 shots on target within a 5 match period. When he is on it, he is someone to be feared.

Another player Clarets boss Scott Parker trusts completely in a football sense is Josh Cullen. This player had a similar relationship with former boss Vincent Kompany, so he clearly is someone tasked with a particular role in the starting eleven. Cullen plays in central midfield and reads the game both in and out of possession. Off the ball he is known to be getting stuck into tackles to try and break up play, but that won’t always be successful. He sits back to allow the likes of Josh Brownhill to get forward, so at times he’ll be left exposed.

In league action, Cullen is ranked joint-second in the Burnley team for number of fouls made. The Republic of Ireland international has gone the odd game in recent times without making a foul, however in the games he does he really makes an impact! When facing Blackburn last time out he produced 3 fouls, plus in the Sheffield United clash a few weeks prior he made 4. It seems he gets stuck into the big occasion, and facing a fellow top-4 rival in Sunderland could be another.

The impression is that Sunderland will be the team put under greater pressure in this Friday clash. Being the away side, they will know the importance of being hard to break down facing a very strong opponent. They are classed as underdogs as well, so they will take on that mentality in their quest for a positive result. Therefore, they should be the team more stressed at times and feel as if they need to make fouls to stay in certain situations.

There is not a great deal between the 2 teams regarding their disciplinary record this season. Sunderland do shade it in terms of receiving more cards. Out of all teams in home games, Burnley are very low down the table in terms of cards, so history counts against them attracting the referee too often here.

Burnley are also the more experienced team in terms of understanding these kind of nights. It is all a little bit new for Sunderland, who are the surprise package in this title race, so there is a slight advantage to the home team in terms of being able to handle the occasion.