Burnley vs Manchester City: Preview, Team News & Predictions
Burnley and Manchester City are set to roll out the carpet for the all-new Premier League season on Friday night at Turf Moor.
The victors of the Championship, albeit in a different ball game, will take on a team that had nothing left to prove by the end of last term. But this is where all the clocks and scores reset to zero, and no one knows that better than Pep Guardiola and his former player, Vincent Kompany.
“I would say, look, we’re not done until we’re done, and as he [Kompany] says we’re still only the 21st best team in the country,” said Burnley chairman Alan Pace in March, even when the Clarets were comfortably the best team in the division, en route to 100 points or more.
And indeed, Burnley will have to bite the bullet against Man City, having previously lost 22 out of their last 23 meetings with the PL title holders. Kompany’s side have bolstered their squad with some serious players in the form of Dara O’Shea, Zeki Amdouni and James Trafford, from Manchester City.
On the contrary, Josko Gvardiol’s addition strengthens an already superlative City defense, while Mateo Kovacic has come in as an Ilkay Gundogan replacement.
A Community Shield defeat on penalties shouldn’t entirely paint the picture on what’s to come – it usually never does – but an indifferent pre-season combined with uncertain futures of key players would call for minimal concern.
Yet, there isn’t much to take away from Guardiola, who will lead his side to Lancashire as firm favorites.
Team News
Burnley
Goalkeeper Trafford is in line to make his Premier League debut against his former employers.
Michael Obafemi, one of the many new signings, underwent a hamstring surgery and is therefore ruled out for the near future.
Jay Rodriguez could lead the line for the Clarets, who will be tasked with replacing top-scorer Nathan Tella’s goals.
Manchester City
Nathan Ake is the only doubt for Man City, while Kevin de Bruyne’s surprise involvement against Arsenal means he could be in line to start alongside Rodri and Mateo Kovacic in midfield.
Gvardiol is another player touted to make his debut, despite the enviable variety of centre-halves at Guardiola’s disposal.
Predicted XI
Burnley probable line-up (4-2-3-1):
Trafford; Roberts, Beyer, O’Shea, Vitinho; Cork, Cullen; Redmond, Brownhill, Zaroury, Rodriguez
Manchester City probable line-up (4-3-3):
Ederson; Stones, Dias, Gvardiol, Akanji; Kovacic, Rodri, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Haaland, Grealish
Match Prediction
It’ll be interesting to see if Burnley can maintain their new-found, refreshing philosophy against Man City. Assuming they’d run away with a result is a step too far, however, as the manner in which they play would illustrate how brave and how far the team will go.
Man City shouldn’t have any issues here.
Predicted score: Burnley 1-3 Manchester City
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Monerals. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.