Premier League title-chasing Manchester City welcome Vincent Kompany back to the Etihad Stadium for the first time as a manager when Burnley visit for a crunch FA Cup quarter-final tie.
City are full of confidence after dismantling RB Leipzig 7-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, while their Premier League title challenge is picking up steam as they enter a period their renowned for doing well in.
With Carabao Cup glory denied for a second straight year, Pep Guardiola’s hopes of domestic cup success now rest on beating Kompany’s soon-to-be promoted Burnley.
The Belgian has completely overhauled the way the Clarets play, and they are dead certs for promotion back to the Premier League after a terrific season to date.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.
Man City vs Burnley H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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Man City team news
Manchester City will almost certainly make changes to their side, but Guardiola will not take Burnley for granted.
Stefan Ortega is the club’s cup goalkeeper so he’ll start ahead of Ederson in goal, and there could be starts for Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez – who has played understudy to the irrepressible Erling Haaland despite being in good form himself.
Man City predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Ake, Gomez; Phillips, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva; Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden
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Burnley team news
Burnley are missing Josh Brownill, Jay Rodriguez and Manuel Benson because of injury, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis is ineligible to face his parent club.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell, like Ortega, has started every one of Burnley’s games in goal, and that could mean former City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric is given a watching brief.
Burnley predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Peacock-Farrell; Roberts, Ekdal, Beyer, Maatsen; Cork, Cullen; Zaroury, Gudmundsson, Tella; Barnes
Manchester City’s record against Burnley is nothing short of sensational – they’ve lost just once to the Clarets since 1975.
That defeat came in 2015, when George Boyd netted the winner in a 1-0 win at Turf Moor, but more recent encounters have seen City put Burnley to the sword. They have won their last six encounters by an aggregate score of 19-0. including two 5-0 drubbings at the Etihad.
Burnley should put up a greater fight under Kompany, and may even get on the scoresheet, but it would take a brave punter to bet against the hosts reaching yet another FA Cup semi-final.