Burnley had a difficult campaign that saw them flirting with danger for long, but eventually doing just about enough to avoid relegation.
It was expected for the Clarets to struggle early on as their small squad found it impossible to manage both Europa League games and domestic fixtures. Luckily for Burnley they couldn’t even make the group stage in Europe, but still the exhaustion in the summer months impacted the first 15 rounds in the Premier League.
With just 2 wins and 10 defeats in those first 15 games, Burnley found themselves sitting last at the beginning of December. The main issue was the lack of clean sheets, with the Clarets nowhere near as effective defensively as they were in previous years.
The turning point for Burnley was the final game of 2018 when they beat West Ham 2:0 to start an eight-game unbeaten run (5 wins and 3 draws), which saw them not just leave last place but by the end of February exit the relegation zone altogether.
From that point on it was all about doing the bare minimum to stay above Cardiff, with the crucial result for survival being the 2:0 home win vs. Cardiff in round 34.
Youngster McNeil had a breakthrough season on the left wing, but the most reliable player throughout the campaign was inner midfielder Westwood, who made the season-long absence of Defour go almost unnoticed.
With the introduction of VAR from next season the ugly defensive approach Burnley are known for will start hurting them much more, and the Clarets need to worry a lot about their safety in 2019/20.
