Mourinho praises his opponent before round 20 of the Premier League tonight

Man Utd coach did not hesitate to praise Burnley, the team currently ranked seventh in the Premier League.

*The match between Man Utd and Burnley takes place at 10pm on December 26 (Hanoi time).

"Their form is fantastic. If staying in the league is the target, I think it's in their pocket, everything is under their control," Jose Mourinho commented on Burnley."If their target is top 10, they will do it. If their target is to fight for a European Cup place, they have the basis to do that. So this will be a difficult opponent. If you compare what they have achieved with their original target, they are having a very good season."

Mourinho highly appreciated Burnley's success in the past period of the season. Photo: AFP.

Burnley have the fourth-best defence in the Premier League after 19 games, behind only Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. Sean Dyche's side have conceded just 15 goals. "I think their goals conceded stats speak for themselves. They conceded three in their last game but before that they were fantastic defensively. Everyone knows how they play, if you expect them to play beautiful, creative football, they won't do that," the Man Utd manager continued.

"But if you talk about direct, pragmatic and physical goals, I think they are very good. They have been led by the same coach for the last few years. I think the recognition between the players, the style of play, the coach and the ideas of the coach is very good. So everything is going well for them."

This match Man Utd is likely to be shortChris Smalling was injured in the match against Leicester. That is also the reason whyAntonio Valencia could miss a third successive game, while Eric Bailly, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini are all but certain to be sidelined.

Burnley earned a point, in a match where Man Utd had a total of 38 shots - the most in a match in the 2016-2017 season. But xStatistically, this is certainly a tasty morsel for Man Utd. The Manchester team are unbeaten in their last 13 league games against this opponent at home, since a 2-5 defeat in September 1962.

Of the 23 Premier League matches played on Boxing Day, Man Utd have won 19, a league-high 83%, and are unbeaten in 16 consecutive home games played on Boxing Day since losing 3-0 to Liverpool in 1978.

According to VNE