Austin injury makes Burnley viable relegation candidates

In a Championship season as unpredictable as any in history, there are still theoretically 15 clubs who could be relegated, with most having only three matches remaining.

Just three points now separate 22nd-place Huddersfield, 13/10 to go down, and 17th-place Burnley, and it is the latter of these clubs who may provide the greatest value in relegation betting markets.

The Clarets, who have won just two of their past 15 matches, have lost their last two in succession to be dragged right into a dogfight at the wrong end of the table.

And with games opposing champions-in-waiting Cardiff and a Wolves side in the relegation shake-up upcoming, little solace is likely to emerge from the Lancashire outfit’s next two matches, making the 16/1 odds that they drop into League One look massive.

Burnley haven’t beaten Cardiff in any capacity since 2007, whilst their last triumph at Molineux came in the same year.

And if the Clarets do remain on 54 points following those two bouts, it is certain that their price for relegation will have shortened considerably, making now look the best time to invest in their hefty price for the drop.

Indeed, it seems likely that Burnley’s fate will be decided on the final day of the season, where they host an Ipswich side they have beaten only once in their last 10 attempts.

Of huge further detriment to their survival hopes meanwhile, is the absence of 28-goal Charlie Austin, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign following surgery to remove his appendix.

Austin has contributed close to half of Burnley’s total 57 league strikes this term, whilst the Clarets have lost only two league matches in which the Championship’s third top scorer notched.

Those statistics underline the former Swindon striker’s importance to the Turf Moor side, whose series of listless recent displays have not been aided by the persistent direct tactics of Dyche.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.