Preview: Manchester City vs Burnley - prediction, team news, lineups

Following contrasting results in the EFL Cup third round, Manchester City and Burnley resume their Premier League duties at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Citizens and the Clarets meet for the first time since January 2024 when the former claimed a 3-1 top-flight victory on the blue side of Manchester.

Match preview

After dropping two points at the death in a Premier League showdown with Arsenal last weekend, Man City returned to winning ways on Wednesday night when they eased to a 2-0 success at third-tier outfit Huddersfield Town, securing their place in the EFL Cup fourth round for the 12th time in the last 13 years.

A decade on from Emile Heskey’s last EFL Cup appearance, Citizens supporters got to witness his sons Reigan and Jaden make their senior debuts for the club, while a total of eight academy players were given run-outs by Pep Guardiola, who had in-form Phil Foden and Savinho to thank for scoring either side of the interval in South Yorkshire.

A fourth-round trip to Swansea City has been pencilled into Man City’s busy fixture schedule, with Guardiola and co now focused on three games in the space of eight days - Premier League clashes with Burnley and Brentford either side of a Champions League tie with Monaco - before the next international break.

With only seven points on the board after five PL games this term, their lowest tally at this stage since 2006-07 (four), Man City are keen to put together a strong run of form in the top flight and will back themselves to prevail in Saturday’s clash with Burnley, as they have won 22 of their last 24 PL matches against promoted teams (D2) since a 2-1 defeat to Leeds United in April 2021.

Man City have in fact won each of their last 13 meetings with the Clarets in all competitions by an aggregate score of 46-2; only against Fulham (18 ongoing), Watford (16 ongoing), Bournemouth (15) and West Brom (14) have the Citizens ever enjoyed a longer winning run in their history against a single opponent.

While Man City were victorious against League One opposition in midweek, Burnley suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat to third-tier promotion hopefuls Cardiff City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, crashing out before the fourth round for the second successive season.

Zian Flemming’s second-half strike proved inconsequential for the Clarets and head coach Scott Parker was left “disappointed” after his much-changed side fell “a little bit short of our standards” at Turf Moor.

Burnley have failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions, including each of their last three in the Premier League, most recently holding Nottingham Forest to a 1-1 home draw last weekend, and they currently sit 16th in the top-flight standings with just four points, only one point above the relegation zone.

The Clarets will be up against it on Saturday as they are winless in their last 19 league visits to Man City (D6 L13) since a 5-2 victory back in March 1963. They have also lost each of their last seven Premier League matches at the Etihad Stadium, conceding 25 goals in the process.

After keeping a record 30 Championship clean sheets in 2024-25, no Premier League team have faced more shots (95), more shots on target (25) or has a higher xG against (10.5) than Burnley so far this season. However, the Clarets will take some comfort from the fact that Man City are averaging 11 shots per PL match this term, their lowest on record in a single campaign (since 2000-01).

Manchester City Premier League form:

W L L W D

Manchester City form (all competitions):

L L W W D W

Burnley Premier League form:

L W L L D

Burnley form (all competitions):

L W L L D L

Team News

Guardiola has confirmed that Erling Haaland, who has scored 67% of Man City’s PL goals so far this season (six out of nine), is "ready" to play against Burnley after missing the midweek with over Huddersfield with a minor back issue picked up in the draw with Arsenal.

In a further boost for the Citizens, Mateo Kovacic "maybe" in contention to return to the matchday squad for the first time this season after recovering from Achilles surgery, but Abdukodir Khusanov (ankle), Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Cherki (thigh) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (unspecified) all remain sidelined with injuries.

After freshening up his team by making nine changes in midweek, Guardiola is set to recall several of his star names including Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders, Jeremy Doku and captain Bernardo Silva, but it remains to be seen whether Rico Lewis or Matheus Nunes will get the nod to begin at right-back in the absence of Khusanov.

As for Burnley, Jordan Beyer (thigh), Connor Roberts (knee) and Zeki Amdouni (knee) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Jacob Bruun Larsen is doubtful with a knock and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Lesley Ugochukwu served a one-match suspension in the draw with Nottingham Forest, but he returned to the starting lineup against Cardiff in midweek and the Frenchman will battle with fellow summer signing Florentino Luis for a start in midfield alongside captain Josh Cullen on Saturday.

Josh Laurent could once again be deployed as a centre-back in a five-man defence alongside Hjalmar Ekdal and Maxime Esteve, while 35-year-old Kyle Walker is poised to start at right-back against former club Man City where he won 18 trophies and made over 300 appearances over an eight-year career at the Etihad.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Rodri; Bernardo, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Walker, Laurent, Ekdal, Esteve, Hartman; Tchaouna, Cullen, Ugochukwu, Anthony; Foster

We say: Manchester City 3-0 Burnley

Man City will not take any Premier League opponent lightly this season, but they have had plenty of joy against Burnley over the years and will rightly fancy their chances of securing all three points at the Etihad.

The Clarets will do their utmost to frustrate the Citizens and hit them on the counter-attack, but Guardiola’s side should have enough quality in the final third to break down the visitors and the return of Haaland will significantly boost their confidence.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.