Lancashire

Tom Gayle
MOTD commentator at the City Ground

Image source, Getty Images

I think it's fair to say Burnley have known their fate for a while now. The ruthless nature of elite sport means thoughts have moved towards conversations regarding which players have shown they can deliver for someone else at this level.

For me, Martin Dubravka has performed admirably throughout the season. I would be surprised if several clubs across the top five leagues in Europe weren't monitoring the progress of Maxime Esteve. After two seasons away from the Premier League, Jaidon Anthony's improvement has been clear to see. However, the standout candidate is surely Zian Flemming.

With his nine top-flight goals, the 27-year-old remains on course to become only the fifth Burnley player to reach double figures in a Premier League season. The previous case studies of Chris Wood and Danny Ings have shown this type of goal return will lead to inevitable transfer speculation.

Whilst I'll leave it to others to debate how poor this current Burnley Premier League side is when compared to those who've come before, Flemming's case is further strengthened by digging into his individual data. Playing in a team which has the lowest xG (the quality of scoring chance created) in the division, eyebrows surely will be raised at the fact his nine Premier League goals have come from just 19 shots on target.

Only Viktor Gyokeres (12), Hugo Ekitike (11) and Eli Junior Kroupi (10) have scored more during what is for all a debut Premier League season. Furthermore, his tally of nine would make him either the top scorer, or joint top scorer, at eight other clubs, a list which includes Manchester United,Everton and Newcastle United.

Earlier this month, Flemming spoke to Dutch media about his hopes of being part of the Netherlands' World Cup finals squad, despite having never received a senior international call-up.

He said: "The Premier League is undoubtedly the best and toughest in the world. No Dutch (Premier League) player has scored more goals than me this season, so I do wonder why I'm not in the squad yet. I'm going to make sure the national coach can't ignore me any longer."

His main competition for the out-and-out striker role comes from Donyell Malen, who made the switch from Aston Villa to Roma in January, Sunderland's Brian Brobbey and former Burnley striker Wout Weghorst, who left the Premier League in 2023 and has spent the last two seasons leading the line for Ajax.

When it comes to selection, in particular for a major international tournament, there are a variety of factors which are considered. Yet when it comes to numbers, Malen surely is a lock-in given his 10 goals in 13 Serie A appearances since his move, whereas Brobbey's scored six in the Premier League, and Weghorst has seven in the Eredivisie.

I, like Flemming, would love to hear Netherlands' boss Ronald Koeman's thoughts as to why he's not been picked so far.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley boss Scott Parker admitted he deserved the abuse he received from Clarets fans after their collapse at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

The 4-1 defeat left Burnley on the brink of relegation, which will come if West Ham win against Crystal Palace on Monday and the Clarets then fail to beat Manchester City at Turf Moor on Wednesday.

They are 12 points from safety with five games left after losing a 1-0 half-time lead to ship four second-half goals against Forest, including Morgan Gibbs-White's hat-trick.

Parker said: "I've got no defence and rightly so. The travelling support for 30 minutes saw a team just fall away.

"It's our job as players and as a manager to give the best version of ourselves. For 30 minutes we deserved to get booed and I deserved to get the abuse. That's what football is, I deserved that walking over there [to the fans at full time].

"It's not nice, it's hurtful and it's sad but that's the reality.

"If you open up in this division for a team like us you get hurt. I thought in the first half we did everything we needed to do.

"I'm a fan as well, I understand the passion and emotion, it's been a disappointing season.

"At times we haven't given them much to cheer about and at times I would have liked more in terms of the general getting behind us but I don't expect that really."

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Burnley.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans

Ian: From unforgivably bad to ecstasy, you couldn't get two contrasting halves of football. Brian Clough said goals change games, and boy was he right in this game. Even the second half was nervy at first but our goal unlocked a freedom that was lacking. Credit to our manager, it sounds like he told them to drop their nerves and express themselves. Still lots of hard work ahead but keep calm and carry on!

Stephen: How can you go from utter garbage first half to absolute brilliance in the second half? Morgan Gibbs-White has carried us many times this season but this must go down as one of the best hat-tricks ever. Let's just hope that we don't have another first half like that and we might just avoid relegation.

James: Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. We've had no luck most of the year and now it's all coming our way. Another couple of wins out of the last five are needed though as Spurs looked a lot better.

Burnley fans

Dusty: Was at the game. Very poor other than passing back to the keeper which Burnley excel at. Just not good enough. Too many players are well below Premier League standard. Ekdal, Tchaouna, Florentino, Ugochukwu, Anthony in particular. Forest could score at will in the second half. Parker's tactics shown to be useless yet again. Where are the home grown players coming through the development team? No sign of any.

Paul: Sad and damning proof of how poor we have been all season. I fear for our prospects in the Championship next season under the same management.

Alan: When teams are in hopeless situations they can either fight or capitulate. Burnley have chosen the capitulation option. Impossible to see how the players that remain after the cull at the end of the season can be lifted and readied for the dog fight that is the Championship. League One here we come.

Steve: Complete capitulation in the second half, not one player has the passion or desire to win. Burnley are very short of a leader, both on and off the field.

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

• Aston Villa 4-3 Sunderland

• Nottingham Forest 4-1 Burnley

• Everton 1-2 Liverpool

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley are set to be relegated - it is just a question of when - after this second-half surrender.

The Clarets have lost 45 of their last 71 games over their past two seasons in the Premier League and look about to be instantly relegated for a third time following promotion.

Despite going ahead with Zian Flemming's goal right on half-time, they failed to capitalise on the anxiety around the City Ground with a subdued Nottingham Forest jeered off at the break.

Forest had previously scored just three goals in eight and a half league games at home yet they then netted four in 45 minutes against the Clarets.

Scott Parker's side folded, even with Forest nowhere near their best, and there looks to be no way back. Relegation could come as early as Wednesday.

The biggest question for the Clarets now is, if they are relegated and again make an immediate return from the Championship, how do they finally consolidate their place in the Premier League?

After all, not so long ago they spent six straight seasons - and qualified for Europe - in the top flight under Sean Dyche.

Burnley boss Scott Parker, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "For an hour we were very good, very disciplined. We got our noses in front and it carried on in to the second half. The game changes on their goal, in that moment we give up two or three sloppy goals and lost our way. The inconsistencies have been paramount at times and you can see that today.

"[After conceding the first] it's not about tactics, it's about digging through the next bit and trying to get a foothold again. We didn't do that, in fact the opposite happened and we concede four. It is poor.

"The team have got scars and I understand that because it has been a long season. What you've seen today has been a replica of other games. You can see at times that is weighting heavy, particularly when we conceded. Senior players need to step up.

"I am never going to criticise our general work ethic and desire. Where we have fallen short is quality. We will keep going.

"It is a difficult period now, but it's about individuals, who you want to be and how you want to see out these last games. How we end this season will be key."

Did you know?

• Burnley have lost more than 20 games in a league campaign (21) for the fourth time this century, also doing so in the Premier League in 2009-10 and 2023-24 (24 in both), and in the second tier in 2002-03 (21).

• Only Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago (both 9) have scored more away goals in the Premier League this season than Burnley's Zian Flemming, with eight of his nine total goals in the competition coming on the road.

• Among all players to score more than five Premier League goals, none have scored a greater proportion of their total in away games than Flemming (89% - 8/9, same as Marc Guehi).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Forest's performance

What did you make of Burnley's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Elliot Anderson returns to the Nottingham Forest starting line up after the sad passing of his mother Helen.

Matz Sels and Nikola Milenkovic also return following the 1-0 Europa League win over Porto on Thursday, which booked a semi-final with Aston Villa.

Dilane Bakwa also makes his first Premier League start for Forest since January.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Wood.

Subs: Ortega, Morato, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Igor Jesus, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Netz.

Kyle Walker starts for Burnley as Scott Parker makes one change for the trip to the City Ground.

Bashir Humphreys drops to the bench while James Ward-Prowse returns to Forest, having played 10 games on loan last season.

Defeat would leave Burnley 12 points from safety with just five games left.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Ekdal, Esteve, Hartman, Ward-Prowse, Florentino, Edwards, Ugochukwu, Anthony, Flemming.

Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Bruun Larsen, Foster, Humphreys, Tchaouna, Broja, Laurent, Tresor.