Analysing Burnley ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash | OneFootball

An in-depth look at our next opponents…

Men's Team

How can I watch Burnley v City on TV?

City go to Turf Moor in a 20:00 (UK) kick-off on Wednesday 22 April for the next assignment in a tense Premier League run-in.

We sit second in the Premier League with 67 points from 32 games after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of Arsenal.

The Gunners are top of the table, having taken 70 points from their 33 games, but we know we claim top spot with a win here.

With the help of Opta data, we look at the side that will be in our way…

Recent form

Burnley sit 19th in the Premier League with 20 points from 33 games.

In fact, it looks like the Clarets would require five wins from five to stand any chance of retaining their top-flight status for next season.

They have suffered at home recently and are winless in their last 12 home Premier League matches – only once in their league history have they had a longer league run without winning at Turf Moor, going 14 between February and October 2021.

Men's Team

One moment in time: Sergio by centimetres!

Preferred lineup

Burnley have favoured a 4-2-3-1 for much of the season.

Experienced goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has played every game so far between the sticks.

Former City man Kyle Walker is the regular at right-back, with Maxime Esteve the constant in the middle.

He’s often joined by one of Axel Tuanzebe or Hjalmar Ekdal or Joe Worrall, with Bashir Humphreys and Quilinduschy Hartman sharing left-back duties.

Lesley Ugochukwu and Josh Laurent are the most used central midfielders but James Ward-Prowse has featured a lot since arriving in January, with Hannibal or Florentino also used.

It’s a similar story in the attacking positions, where the minutes are fairly evenly shared out by the likes of Jacob Bruun Larsen, Jaidon Anthony, Marcus Edwards, Loum Tchaouna, Lyle Foster, Armando Broja and Zian Flemming.

Manager

Scott Parker was a distinguished player, representing England 18 times and even winning the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2010/11.

Since becoming a manager with Fulham in 2019, he’s shown great promise in the Championship but struggled to translate that to the Premier League.

He’s taken Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley up from the second tier to the top-flight but has won just 13 of his 85 games in charge in the Premier League.

Parker has also lost all five of his Premier League matches against City by an aggregate score of 16-1.

Pep Guardiola and his players will know that counts for little come kick-off on Wednesday.

Head-to-head record

We have lost just two of our last 28 Premier League games against the Clarets, winning 23 times and drawing three.

That’s included 11 victories in a row, which is Burnley’s longest losing ever streak against any side in their history.

We have also scored five or more goals in five different Premier League matches against Burnley – no side has done so more often against another in the competition’s history.

In total, we’ve scored 82 times against Burnley in the Premier League and conceded just 17.

Earlier this season, we were 5-1 winners at the Etihad thanks to an Erling Haaland brace, a Matheus Nunes finish and two Maxime Esteve own goals.

How they attack

While Burnley are the league’s second worst in terms of goals scored – 34 from 33 games – they do have a very in-form Zian Flemming.

The Dutch forward has 10 goals from 27 appearances this season, including four in his last six outings, scored in all manner of ways you’d hope for from a central striker.

They do tend to outperform their xG, with those 34 goals coming from just 28.4xG worth of chances.

They’ve had the least shots in the league with 301 but convert almost 43% of their Opta-defined ‘big chances’, the second-best in the league.

With only one goal on the break, they’re not the league’s most potent side in transition up until this point.

As for possession, they have the lowest average of all 20 teams at just 41.9%, so expect City to have plenty of the ball.

Flemming is their top scorer, but Anthony has seven too so will carry a real threat. Left-back Hartman leads the way in terms of assists with five, so expect dangerous crosses coming in from that side if he starts.

How they defend

As you may expect with a side struggling near the bottom, Burnley have let in 67 goals so far – the most in the division.

62 of those have come inside their own box, which is also the highest total in the league.

They outperform their position when it comes to defending set plays, sitting 13th of all 20 teams having let in 17 from corners and free-kicks.

They’re the worst starters in the Premier League, conceding 11 goals in the opening 15 minutes and the second worst at the end of a game, seeing 17 goals go against them in the last 15 minutes.

With 328 fouls, they’ve only committed nine more than City, who are the cleanest team in the league, so it shouldn’t be a match that’s stopped by the referee too often.

Dubravka saves 63% of the shots on his goal, placing him 19th of the 24 most used goalkeepers in the division this season.

Be at City’s FA Cup semi-final!

Pep Guardiola’s brilliant Blues are on the hunt for yet more silverware under Wembley’s famous arch.

We return to the national stadium on Saturday 25 April in a 17:15 (UK) kick-off for our FA Cup semi-final with Southampton.

And Members can be there with prices starting from £30 for adults and £20 for U18s and over 65s.

As we’ve seen with other recent Wembley visits, it’s an occasion not to be missed!

Get your tickets now!