Vincent Kompany could not contain his joy on Saturday, and rightfully so, as his Burnley players looked impressive from the get-go, winning their first road game of the new season.
The Belgian boss saw a team who fought hard for every loose ball against the Latics while doing a splendid job at recognizing the space and taking advantage of it as they find themselves within three points of first-place after six matches.
In the top-flight last season, the Clarets were bottom of the league in terms of open play sequences (112), but under Kompany, they have excelled in that department early on in this competition, with 92 sequences heading into their match against Wigan, while all five of their goals this weekend resulted from open play.
They have yet to lose at home on their current domestic campaign, coming back to draw Luton Town and Hull City (1-1) before squandering a two-goal lead versus Blackpool, conceding twice in quick succession with fewer than 20 minutes remaining.
With 11 goals scored in 2022-23, not only do Burnley lead the league in that category, but they have tallied more times in six games this season than they had in their first six fixtures of their previous two Premier League campaigns combined (eight).
Tuesday will be their first league meeting against Millwall since February 2014, when Burnley beat them 3-1 at Turf Moor, and the Clarets have not lost to the club from Bermondsey in a domestic encounter since 2011-12 (3-1).
As a result, they have lost consecutive domestic encounters for the first time since dropping their opening three matches in January of last season.
Gary Rowett’s men have consistently suffered poor starts in the early portion of the season, conceding first in four consecutive league fixtures and allowing seven goals within the opening half an hour.
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Millwall have struggled away from home in league play, without a victory in nine consecutive Championship encounters, their longest winless record since November 2019, (12 in a row).
The road has not been kind to the Lions of late, though they seem to enjoy playing matches early in the week, losing only three of their last 20 league fixtures, which took place on a Tuesday.
While Millwall failed to score two times in consecutive league games last season, they have only gone goalless in three straight Championship matches once since 2019-20 and have never been shutout at Turf Moor in this competition.
Over the past three domestic campaigns, the Lions have only lost three successive league fixtures once, losing by a single goal to Bristol City (3-2), Nottingham Forrest (1-0) and Blackpool (1-0) in 2021-22.
