Burnley vs Manchester City betting preview: odds and predictions

The Sun

10 August 2023

THE Premier League gets underway on Friday night – can newly-promoted Burnley throw an early spanner in the works of champions Manchester City?

Burnley vs Manchester City odds

Here are the latest match odds for Burnley vs Manchester City.

⚽ Burnley vs Manchester City betting preview

It’s back!

Premier League football returns to our screens on Friday night after a 75-day break.

The first game pits the reigning champions against newly-promoted Burnley, a club managed by Manchester City legend, Vincent Kompany. There’s your Sky Sports angle right there.

It’s fair to say that Kompany has done a fantastic job since taking over at Turf Moor last summer, winning the Championship in his first season, but this is a new, greater test and games don’t come much tougher than against City.

It’s only two months and a day since they completed the Treble and therein lies the potential trouble for them this season.

With the quest for the Champions League holy grail finally completed, will there be a lack of motivation this time around, especially given City have now won this competition in five of the past six years?

They were certainly well short of their best in last weekend’s Community Shield.

Pep Guardiola will undoubtedly have worked hard to ensure that doesn’t happen and you’d expect them to raring to go here – a drop-off seems more likely once they are into the meat of the season.

Here, they can be expected to justify their short price, although it is unlikely to be as easy as last season’s 6-0 FA Cup win over the same opponents.

Turf Moor will be buzzing under the lights and Burnley showed last season that they are very good team, one widely tipped to survive.

They can keep it close but a narrow away win looks the call.

Best betting offers for Burnley vs Manchester City

📝 Burnley vs Manchester City key stats

Manchester City have won their last 11 games against Burnley, conceding only one goal in the process.
Over 2.5 goals landed in 66% of Man City’s Premier League games last season – only Arsenal had a higher such figure.
Only one team (West Ham) collected fewer cards than City in the PL last season, while only three were cleaner than Burnley in the Championship.
Erling Haaland famously set a new Premier League record of 36 goals in a season in 2022/23. Phil Foden, likely to play more often with Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez having left, was their second-highest scorer in the competition with 11.
Burnley’s top scorer from last season in the Championship, Nathan Tella (19 goals), is now back with parent club Southampton.

Burnley vs Manchester City best bets

Man City to win to nil

While many expect Burnley to be the best of the three promoted sides, they still seem highly likely to finish in the bottom half.

City were ruthless away to such teams last season, winning nine of 10, six of them without conceding.

They also have an excellent record against the Clarets, winning the last 11 meetings. Ten of those have been ‘to nil’, including last season’s 6-0 demolition at the Etihad in the FA Cup.

Phil Foden to score any time

With Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez both departed, Foden looks set for more game time in 2023/24.

He only started 22 league games last season but still managed to score 10 goals in those matches and a better haul can be expected this time around.

Crucially, Foden could get a more central role here and while he’s not a guaranteed starter – maybe check the team news an hour before kick-off before placing your bet – he certainly looks a tempting price to find the net here.

Mateo Kovacic to be carded

Kovacic looks a decent price in the player-card market.

The Croatian has long been one to attract the referee’s attention and that was reflected in last season’s stats which show he was carded in eight of his 17 Premier League starts for Chelsea.

He was in the XI for last week’s Community Shield clash with Arsenal so looks a likely starter against a Burnley side who will surely give it a go on home soil in their opening game of the season.

📺 How to watch Burnley vs Manchester City

Location: Turf Moor, Burnley, England
Time: Friday, August 11, at 20:00 BST.
Where to watch: The match is being televised live in the UK on Sky Sports’ Premier League and Main Event channels, as well as Sky Showcase.

🔎 Read more of our Premier League betting tips

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