Manchester City are fresh from a disjointed but ultimately fruitful 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach which saw them progress to the Round of 16 with a match to spare. This has been their 2nd successive non-glamorous display which has yielded useful results and although Pep might beg to differ, City need to retain this ability to win ugly this season. They will face teams who are willing to defend with 10 men behind the ball for the whole duration of the match and in those cases, it won’t be easy to always get the perfect goal.
And Burnley will be expected to try something of this sort with the odds stacked against them. But they have managed to pull off quite a few shock results this season and the optimistic ones will be praying for some sort of a repeat. Their centre-back pair has been solid and aided by a well-organised midfield and terrific goalkeeping they have managed to keep out Liverpool and Manchester United already.
City are expected to lord over the possession and swarm the Clarets in the attacking third but it will be a case of being patient and focused for both the teams.
TEAM NEWS
BURNLEY
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the visit of Man City to Turf Moor, but he may consider making a few changes following the 4-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.
MANCHESTER CITY
City have no new injury concerns as of now with Kompany ruled out for a number of weeks while Fabian Delph remains sidelined. Zabaleta was rested midweek and will come back into the fold.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
BURNLEY (4-1-4-1)
Heaton; Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward; Defour; Arfield, Marney, Hendrick, Gudmundsson; Vokes
MANCHESTER CITY (4-1-4-1)
Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernandinho; Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Sterling; Aguero
KEY MEN
BURNLEY
TOM HEATON
The keeper has been the outstanding performer for the Clarets this season and is the best keeper in the league at this moment. He was the sole reason behind Burnley’s solitary point at Old Trafford and will again have to be at his best with Pep Guardiola and his boys arriving in town. With lots of shots and penalty-box activity expected, it will be another trying afternoon for Heaton.
MANCHESTER CITY
SERGIO AGUERO
The Argentine hasn’t been at his best in recent weeks and needs to up his game and start scoring goals again. But with Aguero the opponent is never off the hook and he can conjure a moment of brilliance at any point of the match and deliver a sucker punch. Undoubtedly their most lethal player.
BETTING ODDS
BURNLEY- 8/1
DRAW- 5/1
MANCHESTER CITY- 1/3
