Burnley name starting line-up for Crystal Palace clash as key man makes long-awaited return

The German has been sidelined for a month after suffering a knee injury during the win against Luton Town at the start of October.

But after returning to full training, the 23-year-old has been thrust straight back into Vincent Kompany’s starting XI for this afternoon’s clash against Crystal Palace.

The Clarets make three changes in total from their last league outing, the 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.

Josh Cullen drops out through suspension, having collected five yellow cards, while Ameen Al-Dakhil and Anass Zaroury also drop out. Al-Dakhil isn’t even named among the substitutes.

Sander Berge and Jay Rodriguez come into the starting line-up alongside Beyer.

Burnley are still having to get by without Lyle Foster, who misses out through illness for the third game running.

Kompany confirmed during his pre-match press conference that the striker could even be missing against Arsenal next week.

Hjalmar Ekdal and Manuel Benson both miss out as they’re still working their way back from injury, although they have featured for the club’s Under-21s this lunchtime.

Michael Obafemi, who has been sidelined with a serious hamstring injury since June, also featured in the academy outing.

Kompany also confirmed on Friday that Aaron Ramsey is currently unavailable due to a knock.

As for Palace, they’re unchanged from their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, although they are boosted by the return of Eberechi Eze to their bench.

TEAMS

Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, Beyer, O’Shea, Taylor, Brownhill, Berge, Gudmundsson, Koleosho, Amdouni, Rodriguez

Subs: Muric, Delcroix, Roberts, Massengo, Redmond, Zaroury, Tresor, Bruun Larsen, Odobert

Palace: Johnstone, Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Doucoure, Hughes, Lerma, Schlupp, Ayew, Edouard

Subs: Matthews, Clyne, Richards, Ahamada, Franca, Riedewald, Holding, Mateta, Eze

Referee: Peter Bankes