Burnley in brink of relegation back to Championship football

Burnley was pushed further to the brink of relegation back to the Championship following a 0-2 loss to Brighton at the Turf Moor on Saturday.

With just one league win since October, Burnley are 12 points adrift of safety with just six games left in the 2025/26 season.

Mats Wieffer ended a 16-month goal drought with a double to help Brighton clinch victory against struggling Burnley and boost their hopes of European football.

The victory moved the Seagulls within two points of the Premier League’s top six. while Burnley remain second bottom with only one win in their last 23 league matches.

It is also the third successive win for ninth-placed Brighton, who are just one point behind eight-placed Chelsea.

It was another frustrating afternoon for the Clarets at Turf Moor, with Jaidon Anthony’s early strike being ruled out for offside a sign of things to come.

Brighton soon wrested back control and went close in the 25th minute when Danny Welbeck failed to capitalise from inside the box after home captain Maxime Esteve inadvertently kicked the ball out of his own goalkeeper Martin Dubravka’s hands.

The visitors continued to apply the pressure and were rewarded two minutes before the break as right-back Wieffer arrived in the box to side-foot home a low Pascal Gross cross.

They could have been 2-0 up at half-time had either Welbeck or Jack Hinshelwood managed to guide a knock-back from Diego Gomez into the net.

There was more frustration for Scott Parker’s side at the start of the second half as Bashir Humphreys’ close-range effort was disallowed for a tight offside, before Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen stuck out a leg to foil their top scorer Zian Flemming.

Hinshelwood was also denied by a diving save from Dubravka, before Wieffer – who last scored against West Ham in December 2024 – claimed his second with a strike from the edge of the box with a minute remaining.