Defour in confident mood ahead of Goodison trip

Burnley have avoided defeat on their travels despite a daunting schedule so far, facing three of last season’s top four.

They won 3-2 at champions Chelsea on the opening day, before 1-1 draws with Spurs at Wembley, and at Liverpool.

Next up for Sean Dyche’s side are Ronald Koeman’s Everton, who finished seventh last season, but have endured a tricky start to the campaign, losing three of their six games.

They got back on track with two late goals from Oumar Niasse to beat Bournemouth on Saturday at Goodison, but Defour said: “I’m looking forward to it with a lot of confidence.

“We played against top teams away and got good results, so I think Everton right now are not in a good place, for the moment, if we can keep them in doubt, especially at the start of the first half, maybe we can get something.

“We showed in the previous games we can do it, so we’ll see.”

Defour has started every Premier League game for the club this season, and is pleased with the start, which sees Burnley ninth with nine points: “It’s going in the right direction, we just have to keep fighting every week, because the Premier League is tough and it will be tough until the end.”

The former Porto man feels more at home this season, with the side’s style of play evolving, enjoying more possession: “We now have several players who can play with the ball, and we worked hard in pre-season. Even sometimes playing 4-4-2, it’s going to be more direct, but if we can play, we will play.

“We’re taking another step forward. You can see it in away games, it’s not only in possession we’re moving forward, but also out of possession.

“We can defend really good, we’ve had some good results away. We play when we can, but we’re playing teams with quality who are individually better than us, so sometimes you’ve got to stay in position and defend.”

He pinpoints Burnley’s win at Crystal Palace in April – their only away win last season – as a key moment: “ I think last year we learned a lot, it gave us a lot of confidence.

“We were relieved we got that away game win last year in the end, so I think that started the evolution for this year – you can see it on the pitch, we’re playing with a lot of confidence and it shows with the points on the board.”