The pros and cons of Burnley’s first away game against Luton Town being postponed

Vincent Kompany’s side were due to take on Luton Town on Saturday, August 19, a week on from their season opener against reigning champions Manchester City.

But owing to the continued ground works at Kenilworth Road, the Hatters could offer no guarantees to the Premier League that the redevelopment would not impact the scheduling of the match at late notice.

As a result, Burnley’s first away game of the campaign has been postponed and will need to be rescheduled for a later date – leaving Kompany’s men with a free weekend only a week into the new season.

In some ways, the news didn’t come as a great surprise given the sheer volume of work required to get Luton’s ground up to speed at an estimated price of £13m. But it still leaves Burnley with something of a headache.

It’s far from ideal, but perhaps there could be some advantages? Here, we take a look at some of the pros and cons:

Avoiding the lion’s den

Given Burnley are playing the reigning champions Manchester City in their season opener, the trip to Luton was seen as a far more winnable game for Kompany and his charges. But given the buzz around Luton following their play-off final triumph, which ended the Hatters’ 31-year absence from the top flight, going to Kenilworth Road and winning would have been far from easy. Burnley would have been confident, of course they would, but they’d also be entering the lion’s den. Perhaps facing Rob Edwards’ side later in the season when their momentum might have died down a little might just suit Burnley.

Big gap

In total, 16 days will separate Burnley’s opening game of the campaign against Man City and their second fixture, which will now be against Aston Villa. This is far from ideal. Some might say Burnley will be refreshed, but given this is so early into the season you want to be getting into a flow and getting used to playing regular competitive football again. The one potential advantage for Kompany’s men is that their game against Villa will come three days after Unai Emery’s side are in Europa League action, which usually has a knock-on effect, especially for those sides not accustomed to playing regularly in European competitions.

Home comforts

It remains to be seen if this will be an advantage or not, but the postponement of Burnley’s first away game of the season means their first three games of the campaign (Man City, Aston Villa and Tottenham) will all come at Turf Moor. They won’t take to the road until Monday, September 18, over a month on from the season getting underway, when they face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. The only caveat to this is that Burnley will enter the Carabao Cup at the second round stage on August 29, which of course could see them play away depending on their draw.

Getting settled

Had the Luton game gone ahead as scheduled, it would have taken place just 13 days before the summer transfer window closes – meaning both squads would have been far from settled. Instead, when Burnley do end up making the trip to Bedfordshire, the deadline would have long come and gone and the Clarets’ transfer business would be complete. Again, there can be no assurances with things like this, but you’d like to think Burnley’s squad will be stronger by that point, given history tells us a lot of deals often come down to the wire.

Midweek trek

This one isn’t so much for the team, but for the fans. Instead of a Saturday 3pm game, those loyal Clarets will now likely face a trek down the M6 and the M1 on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Match-going supporters are often an after-thought nowadays, but they really shouldn’t be. They’re the lifeblood of the game.