Burnley 0-0 Watford: Roy Hodgson's first game ends with goalless draw in key Premier League relegation battle

Burnley and Watford's long-awaited relegation showdown ended in a 0-0 draw, with Roy Hodgson picking up a point and clean sheet in his first game in charge.

After two successive Covid postponements, the two relegation-threatened sides finally met at a wet and windy Turf Moor with the newly-appointed Hodgson taking his place in the dugout.

With defences - or the weather - ultimately coming out on top, Watford kept their first clean sheet in 30 Premier League games since a famous 3-0 win against Liverpool in February 2020. Burnley have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four league games against the Hornets.

"The crux of it is this clean sheet as an event isn't that important," Hodgson said. "But it did maybe show the players that the work they've done over the last 10 days and taking on the messages Ray and I have been giving them, that's got to be the encouraging thing."

The result sees Burnley remain bottom of the table on 13 points, but they remain with games in hand over their rivals. Watford stay in 18th with 15 points, one behind Norwich in the safety of 17th place.

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Burnley, who had not played at home since December 12, began well. Deadline Day signing Wout Weghorst linked up with AFCON returnee Maxwel Cornet, nodding the ball down for his new team-mate. An inadvertent touch from Craig Cathcart pushed Cornet out to the right, but his fierce volley was pushed behind by Ben Foster.

But Watford soon began to find their feet. Juraj Kucka drove down the right of the area before cutting the ball back for the waiting Joshua King. However, the forward could not make the right connection, slipping over on the slick surface as the ball ran away from him.

Burnley were saved by a huge slice of luck shortly before the break. King had forced the first save from Nick Pope to win Watford a corner, which was delivered by Kiko Femenia. Joao Pedro nodded the ball on, which Ben Mee inadvertently turned goalwards. However, it hit Aaron Lennon on the knees, waiting on the touchline, before the ball was smuggled away.

Watford saw luck against them again on the stroke of half-time. There were huge shouts for handball as Ken Sema's attempted cross hit Connor Roberts on the arm, which looked to be in an unnatural position. Craig Pawson blew the half-time whistle soon after, surrounded by yellow shirts touching their arms. However, after a brief VAR review, nothing was given as the players made their way to the dressing rooms.

Both sides saw chances as the second half began. Within a minute, Weghorst saw his deflected strike loop onto the top of the crossbar after a good block from Hassane Kamara. At the other end, Joao Pedro's header forced a good save from Pope.

But with time passing by, it was Burnley who had the better chances for a goal. In a good move. Cornet's effort forced a diving save from Foster. Westwood picked up the rebounded ball, flashing it through the six-yard box for the waiting Jay Rodriguez, but the striker was unable to flick it home.

Soon after, substitute Rodriguez went close again after a nice ball in from Roberts, but his header wriggled just wide of the far post. Tom Cleverley also forced a good save from Pope at the other end, but the game ultimately ended with neither side finding the net.

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Dyche pleased with Weghorst debut

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Burnley manager Sean Dyche:

"Probably in my time up here, that's as harsh conditions as I've seen. I thought both sides tried to handle it.

"We started very well, took the game on and there was a really good atmosphere in the stadium. The last 20 minutes, we just lost our way a little bit.

"We re-took our grip in the second half. We've got to change the rhetoric really because it's a similar scenario - we looked solid, played at times, affected the game at times, created chances and didn't finish that off.

"On the other hand, another clean sheet is pleasing and a chance to continue building on that… There are some things we have to fast track, but players are getting fitter. We're missing some good players who have been injured for a while so we're trying to find ways of winning games.

"I didn't think there was much in it. I was pleased with the mentality once again. We keep going, we're down to the last embers of the game and we're still trying to score a goal, still defending resolutely so there's a positive feel about the group. We've still got to use all that and add some quality to the moments.

"I think Wout did really well. It's not easy to come into a group, he's accepted what the group are about. He'll give us hold up play, he'll give us quality and as he gets used to the tempo of the Premier League… I think he'll do well.

"Another clean sheet and another point is the minimum we wanted and the maximum would have been a win.

"We're a point better off than we were a few seasons ago - it might not sound like a lot, but it could be defining, you never know. Now it's about the challenge of the second half of the season and how you take that on."

Hodgson: We still have a lot of catching up to do

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Watford manager Roy Hodgson:

"I'm more than satisfied with the performance. I thought they worked really hard. This is a notoriously difficult venue - the wind and the rain didn't help either - and we have a lot of players who have just joined the club from foreign teams. It was a bit of a baptism of fire for them, but I thought they stood up to it very well.

"I thought if any team shaded it, it was us. We had some quite good chances and the players were aggrieved about the penalty, although I don't have a strong opinion because I was too far away from the incident.

"When you're fighting at the bottom of the table, you don't always get the rub of the green in those situations, so I'm not going to complain too much about it.

"I certainly think it would have been harsh if we'd lost the game and as a result, we have to be satisfied with one point.

"I did [see a team that can survive relegation], but that doesn't take away from the magnitude of the task. We're still a way off that point-to-game ratio you really want to see as you head towards those 38 points, so we've got a lot of catching up to do.

"The first ten days with the training have been quite impressive because I've seen a team with great fight for the team. We do have some fairly talented players… The way we went about our business today against a Burnley team who are, traditionally, very hard to meet here at Turf Moor, I've got to be very satisfied with what the players showed us."

Man of the match - James Tarkowski

While Mee may not have had his best game, Tarkowski was there to help him out. He topped the Burnley team for tackles (3 - joint), clearances (7) and fouls won (2). He was also good in the head to head moments, leading the way with duels won (16) and aerial duels won (10).

Opta stats - Relegation battle ends in stalemate

• Watford manager Roy Hodgson has failed to win his first Premier League game in charge with each of his last five clubs (D3 L2), since winning with Blackburn against Derby in August 1997 (1-0).
• Burnley remain unbeaten in their last five Premier League games at Turf Moor (W1 D4), although three of those games have ended goalless (also vs Norwich and West Ham).
• No Premier League side is on a current longer winless run than Burnley and Watford, with both sides failing to win each of their last nine games in the competition.
• Burnley's 13 points after 19 games is their second-lowest total at the halfway stage of a Premier League season, only collecting fewer in 2018-19 (12) - however, the Clarets did avoid relegation that campaign and finished 15th.
• Watford's Joao Pedro is 54 years and 48 days younger than his manager Roy Hodgson, the biggest gap in age of any player to start a match under a manager in Premier League history.

What's next?

Burnley are back at Turf Moor on Tuesday when they host Manchester United in the Premier League; kick-off 8pm. Watford also play on February 8 when they travel to West Ham in the Premier League; kick-off 7.45pm.

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