Man City look to make it two from two since the Premier League restart as Burnley have to try dust off the cobwebs with a tough trip to the Etihad. George Pitts looks for value.
Recommended bets
1pt Sergio Aguero to score 2+ goals at 5/2
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Manchester City v Burnley
- 2000 BST kick-off on Sky Sports Premier League
- Match Odds: Home 1/7 | Draw 13/2 | Away 18/1
Ahead of the Premier League's return, there was talk about home advantage becoming irrelevant behind closed doors, with more of a level playing field as we have seen in the Bundesliga.
Manchester City did a good job of proving otherwise as they dismantled Arsenal on Wednesday, with thanks to David Luiz, but there's no denying Pep Guardiola's side were impressive once they got going.
Arsenal started well, but City grew into the game and looked dangerous with every attack, having 20 shots in total, 12 on target.
They looked incredibly sharp and Guardiola spoke after the game about rotating his side, whereas Sean Dyche is left fearing how his squad will look for the rest of the campaign due to a combination of injuries and contract issues.
Ashley Barnes, Chris Wood and Johann Berg Gudmundsson are sidelined, while Phil Bardsley, Aaron Lennon, Jeff Hendrick, Joe Hart and Adam Legzdins are all out of contract at the end of the month and yet to commit to even finishing the campaign.
So a first game back at the Etihad is a tough ask as they look to blow off the cobwebs when their star-studded hosts have already hit the ground running.
Man City's behind-the-scenes staff actually did well to put banners in place of the seats and screens behind the goals with fans on Zoom to make it feel a bit less weird/empty.
Sergio Aguero started on the bench but the Argentinian looked hungry when he came on, taking three shots in just a 10-minute cameo, and you can expect Guardiola to start him here in place of Gabriel Jesus.
It can be difficult to find value in a City victory sometimes and Aguero is odds-on to find the back of the net here. But the 5/2 on him to score at least two looks a little more reasonable.
Aguero, who last won the Golden Boot in 2014/15, is - at the time of writing - three off Jamie Vardy who leads the way. City's all-time top goalscorer has 23 to his name this season in all competitions, with a further three assists.
If he shows the same desire as he did on Wednesday night, then the Clarets face an incredibly tough task trying to stop him and he can be fancied to enhance those numbers with principal supplier Kevin De Bruyne seemingly as creative as ever.
Score prediction: Man City 4-0 Burnley (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)
Best bet: Sergio Aguero to score 2+ goals at 5/2
Opta stats
- Manchester City have won their five home games against Burnley in all competitions under Pep Guardiola, scoring 19 goals and conceding just two.
- Burnley are winless in 15 away league visits to Manchester City (D6 L9) since a 5-2 win in March 1963.
- Manchester City have scored at least twice in each of their last 10 home games in all competitions against Burnley (W7 D3), netting 36 goals in total.
- Man City have won seven of their last eight Premier League games on Mondays (D1), including each of the last four without conceding.
- After a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats, Burnley are unbeaten in their last seven in the Premier League (W4 D3), their longest such run in over a year (8 games between December 2018-February 2019).
- Burnley are looking to become just the fourth team to win away at both Manchester clubs in a single Premier League season, after Liverpool in 2008-09, Middlesbrough in 2003-04 and Everton in 1992-93.
- In all competitions, Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope has conceded 17 goals against Manchester City – eight more than he’s conceded against any other side at the Clarets.
- Man City striker Sergio Agüero has scored nine goals in nine appearances against Burnley in all competitions – he has scored in all five home games against the Clarets, netting on average every 47 minutes at the Etihad (six goals in 281 minutes).
- Sean Dyche has lost eight games against Manchester City in all competitions as Burnley manager, only losing more often against Arsenal (10 defeats).
- Man City manager Pep Guardiola has won 16 of his 18 Premier League home games against English managers (D1 L1). The only such manager to take points from Guardiola’s City at the Etihad is Roy Hodgson, winning 3-2 last season and drawing 2-2 this term.
Odds correct as of 1700 BST on 18/06/20
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