Welcome back Burnley!
After just one year in the Championship division, Burnley FC will be back in the Premier League for the 2016-17 season following their win over Queens Park Rangers.
The 1-0 win against QPR (one of the two teams that joined Burnley in relegation at the end of last season) combined with the 1-1 draw for Brighton & Hove Albion against Derby earlier in the day gave the club a guaranteed top-two finish in the Championship heading into the final week of the season.
Despite getting relegated at the end of the 2014-15 season, Burnley decided to retain manager Sean Dyche, and the young manager’s attacking tactics proved fruitful for the team in the Football Championship once again as they scored the most goals scored in the league.
In the 2014-15 season, Burnley scored the fewest goals of any team and won just seven games, finishing in 19th place. Their signature win of the year came in a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
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Burnley will be joined by either Brighton or Middlesbrough in automatic promotion depending on the outcome of their game. The winner will be promoted, but Boro will be promoted in the event of a draw.
The non-promoted team will play in a four-team playoff against Hull City, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday with the winner taking the third-and-final Premier League spot.
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As of now, Aston Villa are the only Premier League club to be guaranteed the dreaded drop. Newcastle United, Norwich City and Sunderland are the other three teams hoping to avoid it – though only two of them can.
Follow Jonathan Machlin on Twitter @jtmlovessports
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