Aston Villa did everything but score in a thoroughly entertaining goalless stalemate with Burnley as the hosts failed to win for the fourth successive home match.

Matthew Lowton denied his former club by hacking Ahmed El Mohamady’s shot off the line before Nick Pope tipped Anwar El Ghazi’s attempt on to the bar.

Kortney Hause headed against the post while Burnley’s best chance fell to Chris Wood whose header was clawed away by Emiliano Martinez.

Despite failing to win, Villa have kept six clean sheets in the Premier League this season – more than any other side – while boss Dean Smith said he was not concerned by his side’s failure to score.

“We had enough chances to win two games, maybe even three,” he said. “My concern is when you’re not getting chances.

“We look like a team unlikely to concede goals as well, when you do that you’ll accumulate points.”

Villa rue missed chances

Villa will wonder how on earth they did not manage to hit the net after peppering the Burnley goal with 27 attempts.

On a frustrating night for Smith’s side, Netherlands forward El Ghazi marked his first Premier League start with eight attempts alone.

The last time Villa won at home they put seven past reigning champions Liverpool in an extraordinary game. This could easily have been a similar outcome but the hosts were not clinical enough.

Pope made six saves in total with his fingertip stop to deny El Ghazi the best of the lot.

Even at the end Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings went close but Villa, who were averaging more than two goals per game before this, failed to score for just the second time this season.

Grealish was outstanding in midfield but even he was left frustrated as Burnley dug deep to frustrate their opponents, who remain 11th in the table after a first draw of the season.

Clarets show resilience

The Clarets had dropped back into the relegation zone after Fulham’s draw with Brighton on Wednesday but a third unbeaten game lifts them back above the Cottagers.

Since being hammered 5-0 at Manchester City on 28 November, Sean Dyche’s side have held Everton, won at Arsenal and frustrated Villa.

They played their part in an end-to-end thriller at Villa Park, Martinez made to work hard for his latest clean sheet.

Ashley Westwood had already gone close with a first-time shot when Wood got on the end of Josh Brownhill’s cross to force the Villa keeper into a diving save.

Robbie Brady and Ben Mee also forced saves while Dwight McNeil’s driving runs caused Villa problems all game, but the Clarets’ meagre return of six goals in 18 hours of Premier League action this season needs addressing.

Prospective Burnley owner ALK Capital is hoping to conclude its takeover of the club in time to give Dyche a chance to bolster his squad in the January transfer window.

After a tough start to the season, at least his side is beginning to move in the right direction.

“It wasn’t a great result, just a good result,” said Dyche. “We had to get back to being strong defensively and we have done that.

“We had a big result at Arsenal but doing the basics well has been important to us since we’ve been in the Premier League.

“Now we have to find the balance of opening the team up enough to make sure we score more goals.”

Another clean sheet for Pope – the stats

• Since his debut in September 2017, Burnley’s Nick Pope has kept 31 Premier League clean sheets – the second most by an English goalkeeper, after Jordon Pickford (34).
• Anwar El Ghazi attempted eight shots against Burnley without scoring – the most by an Aston Villa player in a Premier League game since John Carew vs Reading in February 2008 (8 shots, 0 goals).
• Of the six occasions that a player has been fouled as many as seven times in a Premier League game this season, half have been against Jack Grealish – including this game tonight (7).

What’s next?

Aston Villa’s next match is a West Midlands derby at West Brom on Sunday (19:15 GMT), while Burnley have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Wolves on Monday (17:30 GMT).

Sourced From BBC