Burnley v Manchester City predictions, betting tips and odds

Where to watch Burnley v Manchester City

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 8pm Friday

Best bet

Man City and under 3.5 goals
1pt 23-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Burnley v Manchester City odds

Burnley 10-1
Manchester City 3-10
Draw 5-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

Click here to back Man City to beat Burnley at evens (from 1-3) with bet365

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Burnley v Manchester City team news

Burnley
Michael Obafemi (hamstring) misses the opening game.

Manchester City
Nathan Ake was not involved in Manchester City's Community Shield squad but has returned to full training.

Burnley v Manchester City predictions

Champions Manchester City are the star attraction on the opening night of the 2023-24 Premier League season and they can get back to business with a success over promoted Burnley at Turf Moor.

The trophy-hungry Citizens scooped the three biggest prizes last season and could not disguise their disappointment after suffering a penalty shootout loss to Arsenal in last Sunday's Community Shield.

On their way to last season's FA Cup triumph they were convincing 6-0 quarter-final winners at home to Burnley, although City boss Pep Guardiola is unlikely to expect nor demand such a handsome victory this week.

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany learned a lot from a three-season spell playing under Guardiola and there are similarities about the way that the Clarets and City like to go about their football.

Kompany's side prefer to dominate games and their 64.6 per cent share of possession in the Championship last season was the highest in the division.

It was a style of play which proved to be effective as well as attractive with Burnley accumulating 101 Championship points and wrapping up automatic promotion with six games to spare.

Alongside a successful league campaign Burnley reached the FA Cup's final eight.

But they suffered a sobering experience when they were demolished at the Etihad and Kompany is sure to have been working on a strategy to avoid another humiliation.

The first target for Burnley is top-flight survival and, to be successful, they must learn to win games in different ways.

Playing an open game against the top clubs is not the best idea and doing so against City would be inviting trouble.

Burnley need to be compact in defence and pick their moments to press and counter-attack, but it is doubtful whether they have the players to succeed.

The majority of Burnley's summer buys have been modest purchases and they will sorely miss Nathan Tella, who scored 17 league goals during last season's season-long loan from Southampton.

Wout Weghorst and Zeki Amdouni have been added but there is no obvious prolific marksman in the Burnley attack and if they cannot hurt their illustrious opponents, the writing could be on the wall.

City were not at the best against Arsenal last week and there are question marks over how much they are going to miss departed midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who contributed eight Premier League goals and four assists last season.

However, they are unlikely to underestimate Burnley and should have more than enough to secure a routine victory.

Key stat

None of Manchester City's last seven league games featured more than three goals. Five of them were victories

Probable teams

Burnley (4-3-3): Muric; Roberts, O'Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Cork, Cullen, Brownhill; Benson, Amdouni, Zaroury.
Subs: Trafford, Al-Dakhil, Vitinho, Bastien, Bruun Larsen, Twine, Redmond, Rodriguez, Weghorst.

Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Stones; Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Grealish; Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Lewis, Phillips, Palmer, Laporte, Ake, Akanji, Alvarez, Kovacic.

Inside info

Burnley

Star man Zeki Amdouni
Top scorer Josh Brownhill
Penalty taker Dara O'Shea
Card magnet Jack Cork
Assist ace Josh Cullen
Set-piece aerial threat Manuel Benson

Manchester City

Star man Kevin De Bruyne
Top scorer Erling Haaland
Penalty taker Erling Haaland
Card magnet Rodri
Assist ace Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias

Burnley v Manchester City Bet Builder

Manchester City to win

Manchester City will be eager to avoid a hangover from the Community Shield and should have too much quality for Burnley, whose main aim will be to achieve top-flight consolidation.

Josh Brownhill to be carded

Burnley's midfield will have to get through a mountain of work at Turf Moor and a caution looks probable for combative 27-year-old Josh Brownhill, who was carded nine times in the Championship last season.

Kevin De Bruyne anytime assist

Kevin De Bruyne topped the Premier League assist charts last season with 16 and his creative powers are likely to influence the outcome on Friday night.

Returns 7-1 with Paddy Power

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