Man City played out a stellar 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the Premier League before the international break and this weekend they face Burnley at home.
Thanks to that draw, City are third on the league table and given how poor Burnley have been this season, it’s safe to say that Pep Guardiola’s side should pick up all three points without much fuss.
Man City are undefeated in their last 6 matches and have managed to keep a clean sheet in their previous 4 home matches. Burnley, on the other hand, have failed to win their last 10 league matches and find themselves 18th on the league table.
Guardiola will see two key players return from injury but since Manchester City have a Champions League game next week, the manager might opt to rest a few of his regular players. But some pundits have argued that since the Premier League race is so-neck-to-neck, the Man City boss cannot afford to become complacent.
Man City team news vs Burnley:
Ederson is involved with Brazil on international duty so he will be unavailable for Saturday’s match meaning Zack Steffen will come into the side.
John Stones started for England against Hungary in midweek but he’s no longer a regular for City so Laporte and Ruben Dias will pair up in central defence.
Cancelo and Walker played as the two full-backs against Liverpool but on Saturday Pep Guardiola will see the return of Oleksandr Zinchenko. This will be a big boost for the manager but we think Pep will only put Zinchenko on the bench.
Ilkay Gundogan was another player who was on the sidelines but he has used the international break to regain full fitness. He has a chance to start against Burnley, in which case Bernardo Silva will drop to the bench.
Mahrez and Grealish are likely to be the two wingers for Man City at the Etihad meaning Raheem Sterling will either be on the bench or play as the false nine.
Gabriel Jesus is also part of the Brazil national squad so he too will be unavailable. This means Guardiola is once again likely to play with a false nine.
We think it’s Raheem Sterling who will get the nod to play in that role but there’s also an equal chance that Phil Foden could be chosen by the manager.
Man City predicted line up vs Burnley:
Predicted Line-up: Steffen; Dias, Laporte, Kyle Walker, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva/Gundogan; Mahrez, Grealish, Sterling/Foden.
Injury updates via Premier Injuries.
