Charlie Dear casts his eye over Sean Dyche’s Burnley outfit as Tottenham prepare to take on the Clarets for the fourth time this season on Sunday.

The lowdown:

Tottenham have already faced Burnley three times this season – once in the league at White Hart Lane in December and twice in the third round of the FA Cup the following month, writes Charlie Dear.

While Spurs won both games in north London, the Clarets earned a 1-1 draw in the initial cup tie in January to set up a replay, and that is not the first time they have frustrated one of the top sides.

Sean Dyche’s side held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Turf Moor in August and also beat high-flying Southampton 1-0 in Lancashire in December.

Then, last month, Burnley earned a 1-1 draw away at leaders Chelsea before beating the other title contenders, Manchester City, 1-0 in their last home game.

Those results will give Dyche and his players confidence that they can pick up points against Spurs, Arsenal and Everton in their next three games.

Their final five games are then against Leicester, West Ham, Hull, Stoke and Aston Villa so, while the Clarets are currently just inside the bottom three – one point behind Sunderland – they have reason to hope they can avoid the fate of the class of 2010, who went straight back down to the Championship.

Ones to watch:

Harry Kane has stolen the spotlight this season but Burnley have their own English hero in 22-year-old striker Danny Ings, who has scored nine goals in his first Premier League campaign and led the line when England Under-21s beat Germany this week.

Ings was Burnley’s main threat at the Lane in December, giving Federico Fazio problems with his pace, and his impressive displays have caught the attention of a number of other clubs – including three from the Bundesliga.

Ashley Barnes and George Boyd have chipped in with five goals apiece – the latter hitting the winner against Man City – while Sam Vokes returned from a long-term injury at the turn of the year.

The Welshman was named Burnley’s Player of the Year as they were promoted last season and, although he has only scored one goal since his comeback, that came against Spurs at Turf Moor in January’s FA Cup tie.

Recent meetings:

Kane put Tottenham ahead in December’s league fixture in north London and, although Ashley Barnes quickly replied with a stunning strike, Erik Lamela cut inside from the right and struck a wonderful goal of his own.

That was the third goal of a breathless 14-minute spell in the first half and, although Ings repeatedly threatened, Spurs held on to their 2-1 lead.

Two weeks later, the Lilywhites travelled to Turf Moor in the third round of the FA Cup, and Nacer Chadli gave the visitors a second-half lead before Vokes levelled to set up a replay.

That return game began disastrously for Spurs as Marvin Sordell and Ross Wallace gave the Clarets a 2-0 lead inside the opening eight minutes at the Lane.

But Paulinho hit back in the 10th minute and Etienne Capoue levelled before half-time, while Vlad Chiriches and Danny Rose struck within seven minutes of the restart to complete a dramatic turnaround and secure a 4-2 win.

Prediction:

Fewer than 9,500 people turned up to watch January’s FA Cup tie at Turf Moor on that cold Monday night, and nearly 2,500 of them were Spurs fans.

Mauricio Pochettino’s visitors can expect a far more vociferous atmosphere this weekend and Dyche will have his players fired up, urging them to repeat their victory over Man City.

Spurs have enough to get a result but a draw would probably be two points dropped in the top-four fight and their desire to attack could leave them vulnerable – 1-1.