Vincent Kompany returns to the Etihad Stadium with his Burnley side once again, and he’ll not be surprised to see that Pep Guardiola has paid him ultimate respect by naming a strong starting XI for Man City.
Both teams could do with the three points but for entirely different reasons.
With Liverpool playing at home to Chelsea, were the Reds to win and City not keep pace by claiming a win against the Clarets, it would see Jurgen Klopp’s men move eight points ahead of them, albeit City would still have a game in hand.
Burnley are marooned down the other end of the table, with only Sheffield United below them. Now seven points from safety, if Kompany’s men don’t start picking up points soon, there’s obcious question marks as to their Premier League status after this season.
Kevin De Bruyne captains a strong City side with Ederson in goal, behind a back four of Rico Lewis, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol.
Our side to face Burnley ?
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Nunes, Foden, De Bruyne, Doku, Alvarez
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Dias, Kovacic, Haaland, Grealish, Bernardo, Gomez, Bobb#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/bCj00DPaBU
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 31, 2024
Rodrigo and Matheus Nunes complement the Belgian’s guile in the middle of the park, and whilst Burnley are spared Erling Haaland’s return initially, they will still have to contend with Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku.
Haaland makes it to the bench alongside the likes of Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish.