Burnley-Manchester City is a match valid for the first day of the Premier League and is played Friday at 9 p.m.: TV, lineups, predictions.
By a twist of fate on the first day of the 2023-24 Premier League Guardiola immediately reunites with one of his most trusted squires, Vincent Kompany, who of Manchester City has been a flag for twelve seasons, from 2007 to 2019.
The former defender, now in charge of newly promoted Burnley, set foot at the Etihad Stadium even before the sheikhs’ “revolution,” becoming over the years one of the Citizens’ most iconic and representative players, as well as beloved by the fans. He has repeatedly stated that he is inspired by his “master,” and the numbers put up by the Clarets last year in the Championship attest to this perfectly. Kompany has radically altered the philosophy of the club, relegated from the Premier League two seasons ago and known for its almost always obstructive attitude. In fact, Burnley dominated the last cadet championship, scoring 101 points, losing only three times and scoring a beauty of 87 goals: not surprisingly, promotion came about a month early. In the Premier, of course, everything changes. And Kompany and his men will have to be up to the task, trying to achieve a quiet salvation without distorting their game.
Guardiola finds Kompany right away
To achieve this, the club has spent over £70 million in the current market and the results obtained in the preseason seem to prove him right, at least partially.
Guardiola
In the friendlies Burnley beat Benfica 2-0 and drew 1-1 with Betis, although in the last test they suffered an ugly defeat against Mainz (3-0). For Manchester City, on the other hand, the Community Shield “curse” continues: Haaland and his teammates last Sunday saw their first trophy of the season slip away, losing on penalties to Arsenal after being caught up in full recovery (1-1). Defeat that, however, does not worry Guardiola all that much, despite having contributed to fuel the debate about the Citizens’ “muted” – so to speak – market. City, in fact, said goodbye to two protagonists of recent seasons such as Mahrez and Gundogan, for now replaced only by former Chelsea man Kovacic. The Catalan coach, however, can smile about the Gvardiol coup: the Croatian defender has just arrived from Leipzig for 90 million euros.
The prediction
The most recent history says there is no history when these two teams face each other. Manchester City has scrambled Burnley in their last 11 challenges, by a combined score of 40-1. Clarets and Citizens also faced each other last March in the FA Cup, with the Treble authors winning 6-0. Turf Moor is a tricky stadium to violate, but after the bitter defeat in the Community Shield, Pep Guardiola’s men will want to turn over a new leaf right away, making a convincing start to their Premier League campaign: they should win and score two to four goals.
The likely lineups for Burnley-Manchester City
- BURNLEY (4-2-3-1): Trafford; Roberts, Beyer, O’Shea, Vitinho; Cork, Cullen; Redmond, Brownhill, Zaroury; Rodriguez.
- MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Stones, Ruben Dias, Akanji; Kovacic, Rodri, De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Grealish.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-3
