Burnley v Watford - Player Ratings

[HiroshimaClaret]

Just about did enough - we probably should have made the game more comfortable in the second half, but we were just about on top when the sending off (rightly) came, and I suspect we'd have won the game regardless.

Pope - 7 - Steady enough on a tricky day although he wasn't that involved.

Bardsley - 6 - Did OK against Richarlison, although he does tend to dive in occasionally and the booking in the second half was one such unnecessary occasionally, and he might have given away a penalty first half when he gave Richarlison to the opportunity to make a meal of an unnecessary tug of the shirt. His tendancy to underlap rather than overlap deprived us of width on occasions.

Ward - 6 - Not quite at his best - a little tentative on occasion defensively, and not at his most free flowing going forwards either.

Tarkoswki - 8 - Stepped into command the defence with aplomb in Mee's absence - he's growing before our very eyes week by week, although he might have given away a penalty in the second half with a slightly clumsy tackle.

Long - 8 - Really assured and reliable - showed a real turn of pace when required, did well on the ball and showed all the tools that make Dyche have such faith in him.

Cork - 7 - Steady and reliable, even if not the influence on our passing game today that he has been at his best.

Defour - 9 - Run the game almost single handedly in the first half when he was absolutely immense, and maintained a really high level into the second half until he began to tire a little in the last 15 minutes. Kudos to him for the way he appeared to be actively encouraging JBG to have set plays, when no doubt he might have wanted to be centre of attention himself.

Hendrick - 6 - Great dummy for the goal, and a couple of other really telling passes in the first half that could have resulted in more (on one occasion in particular Wood should have done better having been played in in a good position), but a little bit in and out before he was surprisingly withdrawn early.

Gudmundsson - 8 - A bit untidy in the first 15 minutes when he seemed to be trying a bit too hard in Brady's absence, but the free kick seemed to settle him down and after that he was largely excellent. His set pieces were also worthy of note - probably the most threatening set of dead ball deliveries we've seen all season.

Arfield - 8 - A lovely finish for his goal, after a superb first touch to get beyond the defender, and generally busy, composed and involved. Took up excellent positions between the lines and, whilst he doesn't replicate Brady's trickery, he did what he does really well.

Wood - 6 - Did OK and was a useful focal point to our attack, but didn't really get a sniff of goal and was guilty of failing to play in teammates a few times.

Barnes - 6 - A bit unlucky that his disallowed goal was chalked off, but he'd already cost us a goal by being completely unnecessarily offside when Cork tapped across to Wood (neither of whom were offside), and for all his hustle and bustle this was one of those occasions when his tendency to disrupt the flow of the game worked against us rather than for us, and his link up game was frustratingly untidy.


Watford had their moments in this game and for all their whining, they showed at times why they're so highly rated. The sending odd oughtnt to be open to debate, but Watford can feel a bit aggrieved that they didn't get at least one penalty, although we could have one our selves and were at least unfortunate Barnes' disallowed goal didn't stand. We played some decent stuff at times, with Defour linking up nicely with Arfield between the lines and Gudmundsson adding width and flair to our game. But we got dragged into a stop start game at times, particularly in the second half, which suited the 10 men. But its a sign of how far we've come that there's any disappointment about a 1-0 win against a team 8th in the Premier League, to put ourselves 6 points clear in 7th. These really are remarkable times.

An excellent overview of the game and the players` performances.

[FactualFrank]

A brillant win!!!! I wasn`t TOO confident, especially with Mee being out. A nailed-on red card too!
Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 9 MOM the commentators waxed lyrical about him all game
Long 8
Ward 7

Gudmundsson 9 (a coin flip for MOM)
Cork 8
Defour 8
Arfield 8 (thought he had a quiet start, then a great goal which lead to an excellent 2nd half)

Hendrick 6 (bang average for me)
Wood 6 (thought this was one of his quieter games...bullied a bit by their centre-halves)

6s do seem low BUT the ratings say `6 - average` so there you are!

What a season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best report so far. I didn't expect a win today but we collected them with ease.

[maidenover]

Pope 8 - Very assured performance
Bardsley 8 Lowts might have a job getting his place back
Long 8- To the naysayers, this lad is a good player
Tarkowski 9 Imperious
Ward 7 Neat and tidy
Cork 7 As Ward
Defour 8 Smooth Operator
Hendrick 7 Quiet but lovely dummy for goal
Arfield 7 Lovely finish, improved as the game went on
JBG 9 MoM for me. A catalyst for a lot of good things we’ve done lately
Wood 7 Tough role but not quite at his best
Barnes 7 Watford’s early second half dominance ended when he came on

[smudge]

Pope 8 - Very assured performance
Bardsley 8 Lowts might have a job getting his place back
Long 8- To the naysayers, this lad is a good player
Tarkowski 9 Imperious
Ward 7 Neat and tidy
Cork 7 As Ward
Defour 8 Smooth Operator
Hendrick 7 Quiet but lovely dummy for goal
Arfield 7 Lovely finish, improved as the game went on
JBG 9 MoM for me. A catalyst for a lot of good things we’ve done lately
Wood 7 Tough role but not quite at his best
Barnes 7 Watford’s early second half dominance ended when he came on

Barnes 7 Watford's early second half dominance ended when he came on
It certainly did,excellent performance and sub.

[Jakubs Tash]

Pope 7

Bardsley 8
Tarkowski 9
Long 7
Ward 7

JBG 8
Cork 7
Defour 8
Hendrick 7
Arfield 7

Wood 8

Barnes 7

[Colburn_Claret]

Pope 7 nothing to do

Barnsley 8 hard task but gives 100%
Tarkowski 8 another great game
Long 8 excellent considering how much time he spends on the bench, biggest compliment is we didn't miss Ben at all.
Ward 8 Typical Ward

JBG 9 just gets better and better, and without Brady we are desperate to keep this lad fit.
Cork 7 steady game from Jack
Defour 8 another excellent performance
Hendrick 6 quiet but stuck at it, nice dummy for the goal
Airfield 7 thought he started off very poor. The goal was so well taken and he did improve as the game went on.

Wood 6 kept quiet with little service but stuck at it

Barnes 7 does what Ash does, wouldn't have it any other way.


Considering last season they were moaning that we bullied them out of it, yesterday they bullied us. Without being dirty they were in our faces and won so many loose 50/50 balls, especially in that first half hour. Overall we deserved the win, but you can see why Watford are up there as well. They stuck at it all game, never gave up even with 10 men. Sadly they do like to whinge at every decision that goes against them, but that seems to be the norm with Southerners.

[HiroshimaClaret]

Pope 7 nothing to do

Barnsley 8 hard task but gives 100%
Tarkowski 8 another great game
Long 8 excellent considering how much time he spends on the bench, biggest compliment is we didn't miss Ben at all.
Ward 8 Typical Ward

JBG 9 just gets better and better, and without Brady we are desperate to keep this lad fit.
Cork 7 steady game from Jack
Defour 8 another excellent performance
Hendrick 6 quiet but stuck at it, nice dummy for the goal
Airfield 7 thought he started off very poor. The goal was so well taken and he did improve as the game went on.

Wood 6 kept quiet with little service but stuck at it

Barnes 7 does what Ash does, wouldn't have it any other way.


Considering last season they were moaning that we bullied them out of it, yesterday they bullied us. Without being dirty they were in our faces and won so many loose 50/50 balls, especially in that first half hour. Overall we deserved the win, but you can see why Watford are up there as well. They stuck at it all game, never gave up even with 10 men. Sadly they do like to whinge at every decision that goes against them, but that seems to be the norm with Southerners.

Another excellent summary of the proceedings.

[Jakubs Tash]

Some surprisingly low scores for Wood... I thought he was excellent. He was up there on his own don’t forget and I thought his control, hold up play and running the channels were really good.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Pope 7
Bardsley 9
Ward 7
Tarkowski 9
Long 8
Cork 7
Defour 9
Hendrick 7
Gudmundsson 9
Arfield 8
Wood 8

Great performance after a dodgy opening and in reality we should have won by a bigger margin but for some great saves by their keeper and a wrong offside call. Another game where Pope wasn’t really tested against a massive bunch of whingers.

Great times to be a claret.

[strayclaret]

Pope 7
Bardsley 8
Long 8
Tarks 8
Ward 7
JBG 8
Cork 7
Defour 9
Arfield 8
Hendrick 6
Wood 7

Barnes 6
Another big result, and a big mention for Big Kevin, having not had a sniff in the PLthis year played superbly

[Dark Cloud]

Pope 8 (actually gives me more confidence than Heaton and that's saying something)
Bardsley 8
Tarks 8
Long 8 (based on the little I've seen over the years I'm not really a fan, but fair do's he was excellent yesterday and rarely broke sweat. Good job it's all down to SD and not me!)
Ward 7
Defour 8
Cork 9 *MOM (how many headers does he win?? More than Tarks???)
JBG 8
Arfield 8 (great performance and finish from a guy who is written off about every other week on here)
Hendrick 7 (rather anonymous tbh)
Wood 8 (excellent in the air and on the floor - a clear upgrade)

Barnes 8 (superb, typical Barnes cameo and so unlucky not to score)

How much the red card helped us we'll never know, but before that we looked pretty good and well up for it. Watford are no mugs and score freely away from home, yet we managed to snuff out their goal threat without 2 or our first choice back 4. At only 1-0 any team are still in a game and we could and should have pulled further away before the end and I became very nervous! And just to mention Kevin Long as I'm far from convinced about him generally and on the limited appearances he's made down the years I have always thought he wasn't really up to it. BUT yesterday he was outstanding and looked in total control so fair play to the lad. If he plays Tuesday and handles Crouch for 90 minutes then I'll be completely won over!

[IanMcL]

Pope 7
Bardsley 8
Tarkowski 8
Long 7
Ward 7

JBG 8
Cork 7
Defour 7
Hendrick 7
Arfield 7

Wood 7

Barnes 7

[SalisburyClaret]

Pope 7 solid but no troubled much
Bardsley 8 solid
Long 8 did very well
Tarks 9 extremely solid
Ward 8 solid
JBG 8 full of flair
Cork 8 back in the groove after Leicester
Defour 9* purred
Arfield 9 ideal behind the striker
Hendrick 7 best for a while
Wood 8 good movement

Barnes 8 robbed of a goal

Watford spent a lot of the game surrounding the ref - repulsive side

[jlup1980]

Pope 7
Bardsley 6
Long 7
Tarks 8
Ward 7
JBG 9
Cork 7
Defour 9
Arfield 7
Hendrick 5
Wood 6

Barnes 7

Defour and JBG ran the show for us. Hendrick had an off day. Tarky stood up and took command in place of Mee. Not the best performance but who cares. Bring on Stoke!

[BleedingClaret]

Pope 8
Ward 8
Tarkowski 9
Long 8
Bardsley 9
Gudmundson 9
Cork 9
Defour 9
Arfield 9 MOM
Hendrick 8
Wood 8
Barnes 7

[Roosterbooster]

Some surprisingly low scores for Wood... I thought he was excellent. He was up there on his own don’t forget and I thought his control, hold up play and running the channels were really good.

I agree with all the points about his control, hold up play, and running the channels being something to admire. But, for me, once he’s done all this, his link up play with everyone needs to improve. I don’t think he scares defenders. I still think he can improve, but I remain to be convinced about the price tag. I know it’s not his fault, but he will still be compared to this, whether he likes it or not

[Duffer_]

Pope 7
Bardsley 7
Long 8
Tarkowski 8
Ward 7
JBG 8
Cork 8
Defour 9
Arfield 8
Hendrick 6
Wood 7

Barnes 6

UTC!

[TVC15]

Pope 7 - solid and commanding
Bardsley 7 - played well again. "Good" and necessarily yellow card. Had to take him out and did it in style
Long 8 - did nothing wrong
Tarks 9 - excellent
Ward 7 - crossing not great
Cork 8 - another great game
Defour 9 (MoM) - ran the game
Arfield 8 - great game and very good goal. He's actually played very well in most of the games he started this season.
JBG 9 - he's just playing so well at moment. I don't know if it's a fitness or confidence thing but he has found a yard of pace that I did not know he had....and it means he is beating people with ease and for me there are fewer better things on a football pitch than a winger in full flow.
Hendrick 7 - probably being a bit generous as he was quiet again but he played a key role in our goal.
Wood 8 - cannot be understated how hard it is to play up front on your own....especially in one of the strongest leagues in the world. If he was finding a Burnley shirt every time he got the ball then he would be worth £150m. With the way we compact play and play pretty deep he does not have 4 or 5 options like Man City every time he gets the ball. At best he might have one Burnley player who eventually gets near him and by this time he has 2 or 3 opposition defenders snapping at his heels, pushing him towards the touchline etc. I was watching Lukaku today and he gave the ball away a hell of a lot more times than Wood did yesterday!

[Goodclaret]

Pope 7 - solid and commanding
Bardsley 7 - played well again. "Good" and necessarily yellow card. Had to take him out and did it in style
Long 8 - did nothing wrong
Tarks 9 - excellent
Ward 7 - crossing not great
Cork 8 - another great game
Defour 9 (MoM) - ran the game
Arfield 8 - great game and very good goal. He's actually played very well in most of the games he started this season.
JBG 9 - he's just playing so well at moment. I don't know if it's a fitness or confidence thing but he has found a yard of pace that I did not know he had....and it means he is beating people with ease and for me there are fewer better things on a football pitch than a winger in full flow.
Hendrick 7 - probably being a bit generous as he was quiet again but he played a key role in our goal.
Wood 8 - cannot be understated how hard it is to play up front on your own....especially in one of the strongest leagues in the world. If he was finding a Burnley shirt every time he got the ball then he would be worth £150m. With the way we compact play and play pretty deep he does not have 4 or 5 options like Man City every time he gets the ball. At best he might have one Burnley player who eventually gets near him and by this time he has 2 or 3 opposition defenders snapping at his heels, pushing him towards the touchline etc. I was watching Lukaku today and he gave the ball away a hell of a lot more times than Wood did yesterday!

Great summary TVC and your points re JBG and Wood are spot on. What a team we have and what an absolute pleasure it is to see us perform so well and, more importantly, so consistently.

I can't wait for each game at the moment. Bring on Stoke and let's keep pushing up that table although we are running out of places to chase. Unbelievably, happy Claret days

[quoonbeatz]

haven't seen any highlights or replays but this was another cracking result again a decent, yet utterly cryarse side. up there with middlesbrough and brighton in the divey whingers stakes.

pope - 8 the 1st half save was really smart, he'd have seen it late. good safe catch at the death as well to seal the win.

bardsley - 8 if the linesman does his job, he doesn't need to get booked - the ball was clearly over a yard out of play. his tackle on richarlison in the box was one of the best timed you'll ever see. absolute lols that they claimed a penalty over it.

tarkowski - 8 stepped up to take control of the defence in mee's absence and gave deeney nothing all day

long - 8 the odd shaky moment and he played it safe going back to the keeper a lot when he had more time but he's had sod all football in ages so its understandable. the rest of his performance should give him real confidence, he doesn't let us down in the rare event we need him

ward - 6 he's been up and down a bit since the ireland debacle and really wasn't helped here by arfield constantly going central, leaving ward isolated and lacking options going forward

cork - 8 bossed things in the centre with

defour - 9 who ran the entire show from pretty much start to finish

gudmundsson - 8 we were always going to be a bit more reliant on him without brady and he certainly stepped up. quick, clever and some cracking set pieces. full of confidence right now.

arfield - 8 awful first 20 mins and, as previously mentioned, he left ward isolated for much of the 1st half as he comes right inside so often. what a lovely calm finish it was though and that clearly settled him down and brought him right into the game. second half he was excellent and helped kill it nicely towards the end.

wood - 8 won almost everything that came his way, although he won't get a much easier time than against these two centre halves. the only problem is his running the channels that often takes him out wide when he needs to be in the box but it would be harsh to criticise him as that's often the case with one man up top

barnes - 7 interesting that he was brought on so early, certainly played his part and had a goal wrongly ruled out


no doubt all the focus will be on the red card but it was a shocking challenge and they can't have any complaints about it. credit to us for not letting it, or watford, spoil the game from then on as that was clearly their MO. shame really, they obviously have some decent players but what a whiney set of melts they are, headed up by their manager.

not sure why the 2nd and 3rd were ruled out as neither looked offside to me - certainly barnes couldn't be offside as the ball came to him off the watford players. that would have made the scoreline more reflective of the game but fair play to the liner and gomes for keeping watford in it.

i thought this would be a difficult game beforehand, especially with our injuries, but we're playing as well as we were and that is such credit to the squad.

hopefully the likes of defour will be fit for tuesday, he really would be the biggest miss of all.

[simonclaret]

Quoon nails it as per. If Silva so unhappy about the red I'm sure Watford will be appealing the card?

I hope they do, they'd get it increased to 4 games.

[Tall Paul]

Quoon nails it as per. If Silva so unhappy about the red I'm sure Watford will be appealing the card?

I hope they do, they'd get it increased to 4 games.

They are going to appeal it