The last time Burnley conceded a goal in the Championship, Joe Biden was still officially President of the United States of America, Chelsea were second in the Premier League two points behind Liverpool, and Julen Lopetegui was West Ham manager. On December 21, Watford scored late-on in a 2-1 Burnley victory at Turf Moor. 12 games, and 1,090 minutes later, goalkeeper James Trafford still hasn’t picked the ball out of his net in the league. In fact, NFL icon now turned Burnley investor JJ Watt offered a deal to Trafford about what it would need to coax the former American footballer out of retirement. Trafford had inquired via Whatsapp, whether Watt would be willing to put on his pads for one more season and return to the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals? And Watt replied, yes, he would do it on one condition: that Trafford did not concede another goal until the end of the season. The bet is still alive.
Burnley’s 4-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend kept the pressure on the top two (Leeds and Sheffield United) with the Clarets now in touching distance of second place, and their season has been built upon the most solid defence the Championship has ever seen. In 34 games, Scott Parker’s team have conceded just nine goals – an average of 0.26 goals conceded-per-game. To put that record into perspective, at this stage of the season, no other team has ever conceded less than 20 goals. So how did Parker build such a well organised unit, and could some members of his defensive structure be heading to the very top?
How did Burnley construct the Championship’s best ever defence?
Burnley haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their 34 Championship matches this season. They’ve only conceded four at Turf Moor, and just five on the road. Setting up primarily in a 4-2-3-1, their defensive solidity has been built around their back five. Goalkeeper Trafford is the joint most valuable player in the league at €18 million, and is one of the brightest young keepers in the game. The 22 year old has been linked with a move to many Premier League clubs such as Newcastle and Chelsea, and has been extremely solid for the Clarets this term. According to Fbref, he has the highest save % in the league (87.8%), whilst saving both penalties he’s faced and keeping 24 clean sheets.
In front of him, the centre-back partnership of Maxime Estève and CJ Egan-Riley have been rocks. The pair have lined up together at centre-half for 29 of Burnley’s 34 league matches. Estève was brought in from Montpellier for €12m in the summer, following an initial loan at Turf Moor, whilst Egan-Riley was signed from Man City’s youth academy back in 2022. He was on loan with PSV U21s last term, before exploding in the Championship this campaign. Estève has a current market value of €11m, while Egan-Riley’s market value is just €1.5m, but both players look sure to receive big upgrades in the March Championship market value update. Estève spent much of the January window being linked with a transfer to Tottenham.
Whilst Connor Roberts has been something of a mainstay at right-back, starting 28 of their 34 Championship games, the only area of real consistent rotation among Parker’s back-line has come at left-back. Brazilian Lucas Pires was signed from Santos last summer for €2m, whilst Bashir Humphreys arrived on loan from Chelsea. Pires has started 20 games at left-back, with Humphreys starting 20 (but with five of those starts coming at right-back and one at centre-half). Consistency in selection has been a key theme in making Burnley the ultimate defensive unit in the Championship this term.
As illustrated in the graphic above, if we compare the league minutes since Burnley last conceded a Championship goal to the top-five league teams who have gone the longest without conceding, it really emphasises the Clarets’ achievement. Parker’s team are 1,090 minutes without conceding a league goal. The closest any top-five league team can get to that is Bundesliga side Freiburg, who haven’t let a goal in in 396 minutes – much less than half the time of Burnley. Freiburg and Mainz are the only top-five league teams who haven’t conceded in February, last shipping a goal on January 25 and January 31 respectively. Burnley haven’t conceded since before Christmas.
Following league leaders Leeds’ 3-1 win at Sheffield United on Monday, Burnley are now just two points behind the Blades (second) with 12 matches to go. If Parker’s team keep up their defensive dependability, it’s hard to not see them taking one of the two automatic promotion spots. The signing of Marcus Edwards, who scored on his debut, from Sporting, is also likely to increase their attacking output, with the Clarets only scoring 43 league goals to date. Barring a late collapse at the back, Burnley will post the best ever defensive Championship season. Their could be many other records to tumble for this unbeatable back-line.
Bellingham, Gnonto & Co. – Most valuable players in the Championship after December update
