Burnley vs Lazio
Serie A giants Lazio are heading to East Lancashire in the north of England this Saturday for a club friendly, and, while Burnley will prepare a warm welcome for the Romans, they may not find the weather to their liking!
At the time of writing, while the temperatures in the Italian capital city were a delightful 33 degrees C, while up in cloudy Lancashire it registered 15 degrees…but at least it wasn’t raining. This SBOTOP writer, a Burnley lad through and through, loves his home town but can see why visitors may find it less than appealing. Many a Premier League team from the south of England has approached the town with trepidation.
Legend has it that when Tottenham Hotspur visited back in the 1960s the sight of the rows of terrace roves and smoking chimneys prompted one star to ask the bus driver to turn around and head back home. So I wonder what the players and fans of Lazio will make of it. Reports in Burnley suggest the Italians have bought 1,200 tickets so there could well be a tasty atmosphere.
Anyway, back to the football. Lazio have been hit by a transfer ban this summer and manager Maurizio Sarri has a difficult job to lift his side up into the European places, with last season’s seventh placed finish looking the best he can hope for at the moment. Meanwhile, Burnley boss Scott Parker will ensure the Clarets will stand up for themselves this year in the top flight, they even managed to get a player sent off in their pre-season ‘friendly’ away to Stoke City!
Burnley are tooled up to compete
The American club owners at Burnley, ALK, seem to have learned from their last foray into the top flight when the then manager, Vincent Kompany sanctioned over £100m of player incomings, mostly on promising talent with no Premier League experience. Well, while this time around Parker has, so far, spent significantly less, the incomings look more ready to compete. Keeper James Trafford has headed back to Manchester City in a £31m deal while six times Premier League winner Kyle Walker came the other way, at a cost of £5m.
Walker is a born leader, an England regular within the last 12 months and he still has pace to burn; and he joins a team which is on a high, having picked up 100 points in the Championship last term. Among the other incomings are experienced centre back Axel Tuanzebe and Netherlands wingback Quilindschy Hartman. And in the Premier League 2025 news emerging from Turf Moor on Tuesday it seems the Clarets were getting close to a double signing from Chelsea, the club they bought centre back Bashir Humphrey from at the start of the window. As well as bringing in a new keeper to replace Trafford, Parker has prioritised a big, dominant midfielder and a striker, and in 21 year old Lesley Ugochukwu and 23 year old Armando Broja they may have two of their answers. Ugochukwu, at 6ft 3in tall, is a real unit and he played 21 games on loan at Southampton last season while also representing France Olympic. And Albanian born Broja already has Premier League experience with Chelsea and on loan at Fulham and Everton.
The other fascinating deal completed this summer saw 21-year-old winger Loum Tchaouna move at a price of 15m Euros to Burnley from Lazio, and he will hope to make an impact against his old mates on Saturday.
Transfer ban is painful for Lazio
Lazio were in a battle for fourth place for much of last season but that seems a long way away for I Biancocelesti right now as they have been banned from making new signings this summer due to the club’s poor financial position. Not only can Sarri not strengthen his squad he is also prohibited from any internal spending so he can’t offer longer contracts to some of his key players, including defensive lynchpin Alessio Romagnoli. The club has managed to get around the restrictions to sign Udinese right back Kleo Shpuza. The 18 year old Albanian has joined I Biancocelste on a free loan with an option to buy in 2026; though he is likely to be a fringe player this season.
This is a difficult time for Lazio fans who have watched fierce rivals Roma spending during the summer and the latest Serie A 2025 betting odds back I Giallorossi to finish fifth, ahead of Lazio who are the seventh favourites. While Lazio play Burnley on Saturday Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma have a fixture away to Everton at the same time. Maybe the two sets of fans can meet in Manchester for a pizza on Saturday night!
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