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Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley: Pre-match analysis

The opening round of Premier League fixtures sees, newly promoted, Burnley make the trip to North London to take on current Europa League champions Tottenham Hotspur.

Burnley begin their tricky start back in the Premier League against a Tottenham side under new management, with former Brentford boss Thomas Frank at the helm.

Scott Parker will be looking for his side to make a statement against Spurs by picking up a point or three points.

With many already giving the Clarets a very slim chance of surviving relegation this season. By putting in a good performance on the opening weekend it will be a good way to set the tone for the rest of the season.

Throughout Burnley's pre-season, the newly acquired Dutch full back, Hartman has been ever impressive in every outing.

With his energy and intensity catching many people's eyes and making him an instant fan favourite without a Premier League minute being played.

Many fans will be wanting him to carry on his pre-season form and see him as an important player to how Scott Parker wants his team to play.

After an injury hit year at his boyhood club Feyenoord, Burnley fans and the management team at the club will hoping he can stay healthy throughout the season.

As his attacking prowess from defence will be vital to a team that will likely struggle to create a lot of chances.

Against Spurs, Hartman will be mainly tasked with defensive duties as Burnley will likely be without the ball for the majority of the match. So Hartman will need to display his defensive capabilities as well as his attacking talents when Burnley do manage to have possession and push up the field.

How will Scott Parker combat against the Tottenham attack?

Tottenham, now under Thomas Frank's management, have added quality in attack this summer. With the recent additions of Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel becoming a permanent signing to go along with the attacking talent that is already at the club.

Scott Parker has the task of nullifying the talents that Thomas Frank has at his dispense to utilise on Saturday afternoon.

Parker will likely use the 5-2-2-1 tactical set up that was tested in their final pre-season game against Lazio. This game showed that the set up can be important to Burnley winning points against teams that have more quality than them.

As it allows them to capitalise on their defensive strengths that they showed in their promotion winning season in the Championship.

With having a defensive structure that consists of five defenders it allows them to individually man-mark each Tottenham attacker whilst also having a spare defender that can help to double up on any attacker.

The two midfielders in front of the defensive line will likely not be very attacking against a team of Tottenham's quality so they will need to have maximum concentration levels for the full 90 minutes.

As they can't afford to be lackluster or lackadaisical whenever they are in possession as Burnley will need to make the most of every moment on the ball.

Burnley will also have defenders like Maxime Esteve and Kyle Walker that are good when in possession and often don't get caught out under pressure.

Throughout pre-season Walker has shown his quality on the ball with him often being the out ball from defence to attack. With the veteran English defender opting for diagonal passes to the on rushing Hartman which has been a passage of play that has been developing chemistry over the pre-season period.

On the opposite end of the pitch, Parker will need to ensure that the attacking talents he selects are well prepared to put in their fair share of defensive work.

As well as making sure that they are capable of being composed on the ball and don't squander chances that might be few and far between.

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