Hull City already have the blueprint to halt Burnley FC surge | OneFootball

Ruben Selles' side have performed well against promotion-chasing outfits of late

With 16 games of the campaign remaining, every point is pivotal for sides at both ends of the Championship table.

Burnley and Hull City are two sides who find themselves in polar opposite situations at this moment in time, with Scott Parker's side looking to hunt down Leeds United and Sheffield United in the automatic promotion places, whilst Ruben Selles' men failed to put some form of distance between themselves and the relegation zone in their most recent outing against Stoke City.

The 2-1 defeat to the Potters continued to echo Hull's abysmal form at the MKM Stadium, which is a complete contrast to their performances away from HU3, where they have picked up three consecutive clean sheets and victories against the Blades, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers.

Burnley's own predicament is one of intrigue, as their remarkable defensive solidity has been talked about at length, whilst a return of 37 goals - only 16 of which have come at Turf Moor - has drawn criticism, with 10 of their 31 outings also ending goalless.

The Clarets have also gone 820 minutes without conceding in the league, and whilst a point would obviously be respected by City supporters, Selles' men know they have a blueprint to follow, having caused top sides plenty of havoc in recent weeks.

Burnley FC's defensive statistics have been astonishing this season

Whilst there is a strong argument that we've not seen anywhere near the best of Burnley's attacking prowess so far this campaign beyond Zian Flemming, who is the club's second-top scorer with six goals, the praise drawn towards the East Lancashire side's rock-solid rearguard is well deserved.

After shipping 78 goals in the Premier League last term, Burnley opted to part ways with Aro Muric, who has continued to struggle in the top flight with Ipswich Town this season, which allowed James Trafford to re-emerge into the spotlight.

The England international impressed in League One during two loan spells with Bolton Wanderers, but after initially struggling at Turf Moor following his permanent move from Manchester City in 2023, it's clear that the Cumbrian has found his middle-ground and a ridiculous run of form in the Championship, alongside mainstays such as Maxime Esteve and CJ Egan-Riley at the spine of Parker's predominantly 4-2-3-1 setup.

Despite their 31 games having the lowest goals per game record in EFL history with a figure of just 1.48, Burnley have shutout their opponents 22 times this season in the league, and have a better defensive record at this stage of the season than José Mourinho's record-breaking Chelsea side of 2004/05, who shipped 11 of their 15 concessions after the same total of games - although there is the obvious caveat that the second tier play eight more encounters.

Unsurprisingly, Parker has remained defiant amid the criticism which has come his way, but in a game against one of the sides fighting against relegation to League One, Burnley will take further encouragement from the fact they have only conceded once against the current bottom seven this season, although that ironically came from the boot of Hull's Xavier Simons.

Hull City must follow Leeds United, Sheffield United blueprint at Turf Moor

Despite their lowly league position, Hull have performed strongly against promotion-chasing outfits at points of the season, aside from their 2-0 defeats to Leeds and Sheffield United in the first five games of the campaign.

A battling performance amid controversial circumstances against Sunderland at the MKM in October was followed up with a 1-1 draw against Wednesday's opponents, in a game where the pendulum swung in Burnley's favour in the second period after an energetic performance from those in Black and Amber in the first 45, in what was one of the stronger results in Tim Walter's ill-fated reign.

However, in the past month or so, the Tigers have continued that theme and were more than a match for the Whites and the Blades, with the 3-0 success at Bramall Lane giving City a game plan which they will once again hope to execute in Lancashire.

Chris Wilder's side had conceded just five times in 13 home outings before Selles' side produced a turn up for the books in the Steel City through Matt Crooks, Matty Jacob and a Harrison Burrows own-goal.

Although United's XI had seen some makeshift changes made, with the likes of Alfie Gilchrist slotting in at centre-back and the aforementioned Burrows - who has excelled at left-back- the Tigers were able to produce several sublime counter-attacks in the first-half, and picked their moments in the second to punish their high-flying opponents who were either thwarted by the likes of Alfie Jones, Sean McLoughlin or Cody Drameh, or wasteful in their finishing.

Burnley rank the fourth-lowest in the division in terms of big chances missed (31) and have only created 49 across the season, which is proof as to why the Turf Moor faithful and outsiders have been critical of those at the top end of the pitch and Parker's methodologies which have stifled various attacking outlets.

Therefore, if this trend continued throughout Wednesday's clash and Hull were to further showcase their streetwise nature on the road, there is scope for them to take away another positive result and potentially summon the Clarets to a first home defeat of the season, with Selles echoing such thoughts in his pre-match media duties.