Burdened by the additional demands of Europa League qualifying 12 months ago, the Clarets endured their worst start to a top-flight season since 1927 to leave them bottom of the table with one point from their opening five matches.
In contrast, on Saturday they recorded their biggest opening day league victory since 1966 with three goals in 12 impressive second-half minutes.
Striker Ashley Barnes scored twice, the first coming on 63 minutes with the hosts’ first shot on target as he scored from summer signing Erik Pieters’ cross.
The pair again linked up as Barnes fired into the corner to double the advantage, before midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson added a third from a tight angle as Sean Dyche’s side got their campaign under way in style.
“We’ve all learned from last season. It doesn’t guarantee anything but the brain’s clear and they’ve come in with a thirst and desire knowing how tough the Premier League is,” said Dyche.
“It’s a nice start for us. The mentality and energy, the will and desire was all there. The lads have come in really bright this season.”
Southampton started the game brightly – £15m summer signing Che Adams narrowly missed the target in the opening minutes, and Nathan Redmond also going close with a powerful, rising shot at Nick Pope’s goal before the interval.
The game was also not without calls to the video assistant referee system. VAR upheld an offside call that had ruled out Burnley striker Chris Wood’s effort after 16 minutes – and was called on to review two potential first-half red cards. Adams arrived high and late on Burnley’s Ben Mee, while Gudmundsson crunched in on Ryan Bertrand – but neither was shown a card.
With their European exploits behind them, Burnley embarked upon an impressive unbeaten run at the turn of the year, during which they looked more like the side who finished seventh a year prior.
That run ensured a fourth consecutive top-flight season at Turf Moor and, with attention solely on the league at the beginning of 2019-20, Dyche called on his side to learn from the challenges faced in the previous campaign. They could not have hoped for a more promising start.
After battling through an even first half, the Clarets – who had rarely threatened – blew Southampton away in the space of 12 minutes as Barnes demonstrated his quality in front of goal.
Having suffered a club record 10 home league defeats last season, this was first and foremost a typically solid performance, built on captain Mee and James Tarkowski’s partnership.
But after recording the lowest number of top-flight attempts on goal last season, discovering a clinical edge was a challenge for Burnley this campaign – and one to which Barnes duly responded.
On Barnes, Dyche added: “I have great admiration for him. This pre-season he didn’t score a goal and he looked hungry for it.
“The first goal was a fantastic touch and finish, it was great skill. His second finish was sublime, it’s a brilliant ball by Erik Pieters, but when centre-forwards finish like that it looks easy. It’s not easy when the ball is coming over your shoulder like that.”
