Burnley vs Wolves: Preview, tips, & more as Arokodare eyes good finish to Premier League campaign

The Premier League curtain falls at Turf Moor on Sunday as two clubs already condemned to the Championship –Bunley and Wolves- meet for what amounts to a battle for who finishes 19th rather than 20th.

Burnley sit two points above Wolverhampton Wanderers heading into this final day fixture, and the Clarets will want to close a painful season on home soil with something to show for it.

In any other context, the game might be written off as a dead rubber, but there is still a pride-driven incentive to avoid finishing as the division’s bottom side, and both managers will be keen to give their supporters one last moment to celebrate before the hard work of rebuilding begins.

Among those hoping to sign off from the top flight with a bang is Tolu Arokodare, the 25-year-old Nigerian striker who arrived at Molineux from Belgian giants Genk in the summer of 2025 for roughly €26 million after finishing the Pro League season with 23 goals in all competitions, enough to claim the Golden Boot.

The expectation around his arrival was considerable. A six-foot-six forward who combines aerial dominance with sharp movement and a proven eye for goal, he looked like exactly the profile Wolves needed after years of struggling to find a reliable focal point up front.

The Premier League, as it so often does, has proven a different challenge altogether.

Arokodare has managed three league goals in 32 appearances, a return that reflects the service he has received from a Wolves side that scored just 26 Premier League goals all season, the second lowest in the division.

His 16 shots on target throughout the campaign tell a more encouraging story of a player who gets himself into positions, and his six goals across all competitions suggest the talent is still there.

His first Premier League goal came on December 13 against Arsenal, a moment of individual quality in a game Wolves lost 2-1, and it served as a reminder of what he can produce when the chances arrive.

Sunday represents something of a farewell, as there is a possibility that he could exit Wolves in the summer.

Match Preview: Two Seasons That Fell Apart at the Seams

Wolves enter this fixture 20th in the Premier League table with 19 points, the product of three wins, ten draws and 24 defeats from 37 games, a record that includes the longest winless run of any club in the division this season: 19 matches.

It started disastrously under Vitor Pereira, who gathered just two points from the opening 11 fixtures before the club cut ties in November, bringing in former defender Rob Edwards on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Under Edwards, Wolves have been a markedly different proposition, winning 17 of the possible available points since his November 12 appointment, with victories over West Ham, Aston Villa and Liverpool among the highlights.

It was not enough to avoid the drop, and Wolves’ eight-year continuous stay in the top flight officially came to an end on April 20 following a 3-0 defeat at Leeds United.

Burnley’s story reads similarly. Promoted as Championship champions in 2024-25 with 100 points and a record-equalling 33-game unbeaten run under Scott Parker, the Clarets arrived back in the Premier League with momentum and a well-drilled squad.

The top flight stripped all of that away almost immediately, with a 5-0 drubbing at Manchester City in September setting an early tone.

Burnley conceded 74 Premier League goals across the season, the most of any club in the division, and a defensive frailty that Parker could never fully address ultimately cost the club their status.

Relegation was confirmed on April 22 following a 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City, and Parker left by mutual consent eight days later, with assistant Mike Jackson stepping in for the final four matches.

Those four games have produced just a single point, including a narrow 1-0 defeat at Arsenal, and Burnley head into Sunday having taken one point from their last seven league outings.

Wolves are in marginally better shape in terms of recent momentum, drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham last weekend courtesy of a composed finish from the 18-year-old Portuguese forward Mateus Mané, before Antonee Robinson’s penalty cancelled it out.

Away form remains a serious concern for the visitors, however. They have not won a single Premier League game on the road in 18 attempts this season, the worst such record in the entire division.

The home versus away picture is stark: Burnley are fighting on familiar ground with a vocal support likely to give them an emotional lift on the final day, while Wolves carry an away record that gives little cause for optimism about ending that run at Turf Moor.

Head to Head: Burnley Hold the Edge in Recent Meetings

These two clubs have crossed paths 141 times in all competitions, with Wolves holding the all-time advantage through 68 wins compared to Burnley’s 42, with 31 drawn encounters separating the two.

In the Premier League, however, the record between the clubs is much tighter: five wins for Burnley, four draws and four for Wolves from 13 top-flight meetings.

More significantly for this fixture, Burnley have not lost to Wolves in any of the last three competitive encounters, with two wins and a draw over that stretch.

The reverse fixture at Molineux on October 26 last year was a glimpse of what this rivalry can produce at its most unpredictable.

Zian Flemming struck twice inside the opening 30 minutes to put Scott Parker’s side firmly in control, before Jørgen Strand Larsen and Marshall Munetsi hit back before half-time to level it at two apiece.

Wolves pushed hard for a winner and came close on a number of occasions, but it was South African striker Lyle Foster who grabbed the headlines, tucking away a stoppage-time winner to give Burnley all three points in a 3-2 thriller.

For those looking for historical precedent on Wolves winning at Turf Moor in the top flight, the evidence is thin.

Their only Premier League victory at this ground came in the 2009-10 season, when Mick McCarthy’s side claimed a crucial 2-1 win, with goals from Matt Jarvis and a deflected Adlene Guedioura strike delivering a blow to Burnley’s survival hopes at the time.

That result was over 15 years ago, and there is little in Wolves’ recent record on the road to suggest a repeat is coming on Sunday.

Team News, Injuries and Predicted Line-ups

Burnley are without two key figures heading into the finale.

Defender Jordan Beyer misses out with a thigh injury, while midfielder Josh Cullen is sidelined with a knee problem, the latter a particularly notable absence given his role in knitting together Burnley’s midfield in the better moments of the season.

Maxime Esteve is a doubt after being forced off in the Arsenal defeat with a tight hamstring, though interim boss Mike Jackson is reportedly cautiously optimistic that the France Under-21 centre-back will be available.

There is a possible welcome return for Connor Roberts, who has missed the entire Premier League campaign with an Achilles injury but came through 45 minutes for the under-21s last week.

Sunday could see him make an emotional farewell appearance in the top flight, with Burnley likely to head back down a tier for the fourth time in six seasons.

Three players face the end of their current contracts at the end of the season – goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, defender Axel Tuanzebe and forward Ashley Barnes are all out of agreement, meaning Sunday could be their last appearance in Claret colours.

Wolves head to Lancashire without Matt Doherty, who missed the Fulham draw through injury and will not be back in time, and first-choice goalkeeper Sam Johnstone also remains unavailable.

Rob Edwards switched to a back four for the penultimate game of the season against Fulham, and is expected to stick with the same system at Turf Moor, with Jose Sa returning in goal and Ladislav Krejci continuing to impress at the heart of defence.

Rodrigo Gomes and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde provide the creative threat out wide, while Mateus Mane, fresh from scoring against Fulham, offers pace and directness from the left channel.

Arokodare is expected to lead the line from the start in the final game of the season, with Rob Edwards likely to give his big-money striker the chance to bow out of the top flight on a positive note.

Predicted Line-ups

The Managers: Jackson’s Swansong and Edwards’ First Summer

Mike Jackson needs no introduction at Turf Moor.

The 52-year-old former player has been part of the Burnley coaching staff for years, serving under Sean Dyche, Vincent Kompany and Scott Parker, and this is actually his second stint as interim manager at the club.

When Dyche was dismissed in April 2022 with Burnley in a relegation battle, Jackson stepped up and immediately won three of his first four games, earning the Premier League Manager of the Month award for that April.

Burnley went down regardless, but the run cemented his reputation at the club and he was kept on by Kompany for the Championship rebuild that followed.

He has now been handed the unenviable task of overseeing the final four fixtures of another failed top-flight campaign, and while the results have been modest, one point from three games, his familiar face and calm authority within the dressing room is at least giving the players a settled environment in which to finish the season.

Rob Edwards is a man who grew up not far from Molineux and spent four formative years as a player there under Mick McCarthy, making 111 appearances in the heart of defence.

His coaching career has taken him to Forest Green Rovers, where he won promotion, then Luton, where he pulled off one of the Championship’s most celebrated promotions, guiding the Hatters to the Premier League for the first time in their history in 2023.

He joined Middlesbrough in June 2025 and got them off to a strong Championship start before Wolves came calling in November, and the pull of his boyhood club proved too strong to resist.

He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at Molineux, and it is his vision for what Wolves look like in the Championship next season, rather than anything that happens at Turf Moor on Sunday, that will define his legacy at the club.

For now, he is a manager who has done creditable work in difficult circumstances, with 17 points from 26 available since he took the reins reflecting genuine improvement even if it could not change the final outcome.

Tactical Preview: How the Sides Could Shape Up at Turf Moor

Under Mike Jackson, Burnley have largely continued the shape Parker established, operating in a compact 4-2-3-1 that prioritises defensive solidity as a base, with Lesley Ugochukwu and Florentino sitting in a double pivot to protect the back four.

The problem throughout the season has been the lack of cover on either side of that defensive block, with Burnley conceding 74 league goals from a combination of individual errors, set-piece vulnerability and a tendency to give up space when pressing high.

In Flemming, they have a number ten who can also act as a central striker, drifting into channels and getting on the end of Quilindschy Hartman’s driving runs from left back.

Hartman’s five assists this season reflect just how important that overlap has been as an attacking outlet, and Wolves will need to be aware of the space he finds on the left when Burnley transition quickly.

Hannibal’s ten yellow cards across the campaign tell their own story about a player who is energetic and combative but can leave gaps when overcommitting, and Wolves’ mobile front three of Rodrigo Gomes, Mane and Bellegarde will look to exploit those moments in transition.

For Wolves, the shift to a back four against Fulham offered a more fluid midfield structure, with Andre and Joao Gomes forming a disciplined double pivot and the front four providing movement across the width of the pitch.

Edwards is a coach who talks openly about wanting control as far from his own goal as possible, pressing aggressively in the opposition half to win the ball high.

The irony is that pressing Burnley’s double pivot forces the ball forward towards Flemming, who at six foot is not going to be easily bullied by a centre-back pairing given the run-out they have endured this season.

Arokodare’s size, at six foot six, also gives Wolves a threat from set pieces and aerial delivery, something Burnley’s leaky set-piece record this season suggests could be exploited if Edwards targets that avenue.

Burnley’s biggest weakness remains in behind the full-backs when teams quickly transition, but Wolves’ zero away wins suggest they lack the ruthlessness on the road to take full advantage, even when the opportunity arises.

The tactical matchup points to a game that is open enough to produce goals at both ends, but without the defensive discipline of a side pushing for survival, neither team is likely to keep a clean sheet.