Manchester City travel across Lancashire to face Burnley on Wednesday night, as they look to move back to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since August.
After a massive win against Arsenal on Sunday, City head into the final six games of their Premier League season, knowing that their fate is in their own hands. As things stand, City are three points behind Arsenal, with a game in hand, and just one goal behind on goal difference. With Pep Guardiola’s side having scored more goals than Arsenal already, even a one-goal win at Turf Moor on Wednesday will put them on top of the table.
For Burnley, a loss in this game would put them further on the brink of relegation. It should only be a formality at the business end of the season, but Scott Parker’s side will want to end their latest Premier League sojourn on a high.
Here’s everything you need to know about Wednesday’s game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK, NBC / Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Wednesday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m. BST (3:00 p.m. ET; 12:30 a.m. IST, Thursday and 5:00 a.m. AEST, Thursday).
Venue: Turf Moor, Burnley.
Referee: Andy Madley
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Injury and Team News:
Burnley
Axel Tuanzebe, D: achilles, DOUBT
Connor Roberts, D: strain, DOUBT
Jordan Beyer D: knee, OUT
Hannibal Mejbri, M: hamstring, OUT
Josh Cullen, M: knee, OUT
Zeki Amdouni, F: knee, OUT
Manchester City
Rúben Dias, D: hamstring, DOUBT
John Stones, D: calf, OUT
Josko Gvardiol, D: tibia, OUT
Talking Points:
How much has Arsenal game taken out of City?
That win against Arsenal was massive for City to keep their Premier League fate in their own hands. However, the magnitude of the occasion and the intensity of the game is bound to have taken a toll on the players, both physically and mentally.
How City recover from that is crucial to their chances of winning at Turf Moor. Of course, on paper, this is a no-contest. However, Burnley will be banking on residual fatigue from that game to take advantage of. However, this is a City squad filled with habitual title-winners, who have history for peaking in the final stretch of the season.
Guardiola is in familiar territory now
In the close title races that Guardiola has masterminded in his time in England, April and May have been two months when City have looked near invincible. In 2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, City were playing catch-up heading into the spring, but showed in all the four years that there’s no one that can quite match their ability to go on significant winning runs towards the end of seasons.
It’s that sense of familiarity for Guardiola and City again, at this point. That win against Arsenal was significant, but it counts for nothing, if they’re not clinical in closing this season out with the wins that they need to win another Premier League title.
Burnley need miracle of miracles to stay up
With five games left to play this season, Burnley are 12 points adrift of Premier League safety. Their fate isn’t sealed yet, but if West Ham manage a point against Crystal Palace on Monday night, then a loss to City will confirm Burnley’s relegation to the Championship for next season.
For Parker’s side to stay up, they will need West Ham to pick up not more than two points from their remaining six games, while Burnley will have to win every one of their remaining games. No team in Premier League history has pulled off an escape quite of this magnitude, and it is quite unlikely that Burnley will either. However, as long as the slim mathermatical possibility of survival exists, some Burnley fans could cling on to the faintest of hope.
How to stop O’Reilly?
A few years ago, it might have been implausible to think of a player running a game from the full-back positions. However, after getting used to it with Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool, Premier League fans are now seeing it with Nico O’Reilly for City. Arsenal’s nemesis from last month’s Carabao Cup final once against stepped up with a superb performance from left-back.
Whether it was inverting into midfield, running on the overlap, or defending against the likes of Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli, O’Reilly was faultless. As this season has gone on, it is becoming clearer with every game that there are few, if any, weaknesses to his game. He’s making significant contributions in both boxes, he’s an integral part of City’s build-up in possession, and he’s popped up with plenty of important goals all season too. Stop him if you can.
What do the numbers say?
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Manchester City have won 14 of their last 15 Premier League games against Burnley.
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Burnley have only won one of their last 19 Premier League against Manchester City.
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Manchester City have scored five or more goals five times against Burnley, more than any other Premier League opposition.
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Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 29 Premier League matches against newly promoted teams.
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Antoine Semenyo has scored in all his three previous appearances against Burnley.
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Burnley haven’t won any of their last 12 Premier League home matches.
