Match Preview: Burnley v Brentford

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Brentford FC

·25 February 2026

Match Preview: Burnley v Brentford

Brentford take on Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm kick-off GMT).

The Bees are looking to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last time out, while Scott Parker’s side drew 1-1 with Chelsea.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Brentford should have opportunities to dictate the tempo at Turf Moor

Burnley striker Zian Flemming’s late equaliser at Chelsea last weekend typified the spirit of Scott Parker’s Clarets - who can move within five points of Premier League safety on Saturday if they beat Brentford.

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Currently 19th in the top flight, a 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace and a dramatic point at Stamford Bridge have revived Burnley’s bid to beat the drop.

Former Chelsea midfielder Parker believes the morale-boosting draw on his old stomping ground can catalyse a “Great Escape”, stating afterwards that “we’re right in this and we’ll still keep fighting.”

Combative midfielders in their day, Parker and Keith Andrews shared the spoils on three of the four occasions they clashed as Premier League players, and neither will expect any quarter to be given at Turf Moor this Saturday.

However, the underlying data favours the clinical Bees. Automatically promoted from the Championship, Burnley racked up 100 points and conceded just 16 goals last season in the second tier - Parker and his side boasting, statistically, the best defence in Europe.

But the Premier League is a different animal and Burnley have struggled to replicate that defensive excellence at the higher level. The Clarets have shipped the most goals (52) in the division and currently concede more shots per 90 (16.5) than any other team in the top flight.

Parker has spoken about the “deadly” finishing at Premier League level, and Brentford epitomise that cut-throat ruthlessness.

Spearheaded by 17-goal striker Igor Thiago, the Bees have the best shot conversion rate in the division (14.81 per cent), the highest xG per shot (0.17) and put a league-high 38 per cent of their efforts on target.

Individually, Thiago (54 per cent) and his attacking sidekick Kevin Schade (49 per cent) both rank among the Premier League’s top 20 players for shot accuracy.

Under Andrews, Brentford are evolving into a compact and competitive unit capable of launching devastating raids forward on the break. Interestingly, though, the Bees have controlled more possession away from home - and they can expect that trend to continue in Lancashire.

The Londoners average 48 per cent of the ball on their travels in 2025/26, compared to 46 per cent at Gtech Community Stadium, and they should have opportunities to dictate the tempo against a Burnley side with an average possession share of just 41 per cent.

With 11 games of the season remaining, Parker’s Clarets are searching for a clinical edge of their own in attack - particularly at home.

Although Burnley rank ninth in the Premier League for away goals this season with 17, it has been a different story at Turf Moor, where they have scored a league-low 12.

It’s a cliché, but if you don’t shoot, you don’t score - and Burnley currently attempt fewer shots (9.1) and register fewer efforts on target (three) per game than any team in the Premier League. What’s more, the quality of the chances they create ranks among the lowest in the division.

Such statistics offer useful clues as to how Saturday’s clash might unfold. The data may favour Brentford - but with Burnley fighting for their lives and the Bees chasing a record Premier League finish, Turf Moor promises to test more than just the numbers.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Four points from two games boost Burnley’s survival hopes

Burnley returned to the Premier League last August knowing they were going to be in for another fight to stay in the division.

There was no unrealistic optimism, particularly as their last two seasons in the top flight ended in relegation - but the Clarets knew they had to at least better the record of 24 points achieved under Vincent Kompany in 2023/24, when they went down with a game to spare.

Three wins and a draw from the first nine did spark belief it might be possible.

But after suffering a 3-2 defeat at West Ham on 8 November, in a game Burnley took the lead in, head coach Scott Parker warned: “We’ve got to improve because, otherwise, it’ll be a long season for us.”

The results they needed did not follow. The defeat to Arsenal a week earlier had started a run of seven losses in a row. They scored six goals across those games, only four of which were from open play. One of those came at the Gtech, after which Parker admitted his hurt at seeing his side take “knockout punches”. After losing to Fulham, he conceded Burnley were “fighting for our lives”.

That miserable run ended with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth just before Christmas and a 0-0 draw at home to Everton just after, yet they endured another seven without a win after that.

The 2-0 loss to West Ham at Turf Moor on 7 February led to some sections of the fanbase calling for Parker’s head. “It’s not helpful,” he said afterwards.

That left Burnley in 19th, 11 points from safety with 13 games left to play.

In the last two games, however, they have beaten Crystal Palace and drawn at Chelsea, picking up as many points as they had in the eight games prior. The gap has been narrowed to eight points with 11 games remaining.

Parker’s pride was abundantly clear after the Palace win, in which his side came from 2-0 down to win 3-2. “I cannot describe to you, last weekend, we were at home, and the adversity, the stress, the clear frustration on everyone,” he said. “That performance tonight, I'm sorry, there aren't many teams that could do that.”

Whether Burnley can complete ‘The Great Escape’ is up for debate. The gap is still sizeable - though, crucially, not yet insurmountable. If they can replicate the fight and determination they showed in the last two, they might at least give themselves a chance.

In the Dugout

Scott Parker

As a player, Scott Parker was a product of the Charlton youth set-up, where he started at nine and made his senior debut at the age of 16 in August 1997.

The midfielder stayed until he was 23 in January 2004, when he joined Chelsea for a reported fee of £10 million.

By then, he was a senior England international, having been handed his debut by Sven-Göran Eriksson in a 3-2 loss to Denmark in November 2003. However, he made just 28 appearances across two seasons with the Blues and was sold to Newcastle in the summer of 2005.

After two seasons at St James’ Park, Parker returned to the capital to sign for West Ham United. His time there was thoroughly positive, so much so that he was named Hammer of the Year in the last three of his four seasons in east London - and no player in history has won that accolade three times in succession.

West Ham were relegated in 2011 and early on in 2011/12, he returned to the Premier League to join Tottenham Hotspur.

Another two years followed there before, in August 2013, he signed a three-year deal at Fulham, though he stayed for four seasons in the end and retired from playing at 36 in June 2017.

Parker then spent time coaching back at Spurs, before returning to Fulham and working under Slaviša Jokanović and Claudio Ranieri.

He took over in his own right in February 2019 and stayed in the job for more than two years, taking the Whites to the Premier League in 2020. He left after they were relegated in 2021 to take over at Bournemouth, who he also took up in 2021/22.

Parker left his job with the Cherries in August 2022, shortly after a Premier League record-equalling 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, but was back working four months later, this time at Club Brugge in Belgium. His time there, however, was ill-fated and he was sacked after a little over two months – and just 12 games - in charge in March 2023.

He replaced Vincent Kompany at Burnley in July 2024 and, again in his first season, secured a third promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Parker, 45, is under contract at Turf Moor until 2027.

The Gameplan

With Matt Scrafton, Burnley Express

Burnley reporter Matt Scrafton explains how Scott Parker is likely to set up his side on Saturday.

“The style depends on the game,” Scrafton told us earlier this week, “but one of their issues is that they do not have a noticeable style: they are not a counter-attacking team and they do not press high, so I think the fans would want them to be a bit more definitive in that respect.

“Predominantly this season, they have played a back five. On the occasions they have changed to a back four, it has not really worked, so I suspect it will be something like a 5-2-3 formation, with the two wingers tracking back with the two central midfielders.”

Last Premier League starting XI v Chelsea (5-2-3): Dúbravka; Laurent, Walker, Worrall, Estève, Humphreys; Ugochukwu, Hannibal; Edwards, Flemming, Anthony