Burnley vs. Manchester City – EPL, February 3, 2021

Manchester City has started to get its swagger back and will make the short trip to Burnley on Wednesday on the back of a 12-game winning streak in all competitions.

The home side’s form has been patchier, but Sean Dyche has his team difficult to beat again, so it could be a close game.

BetOnline definitely thinks that Manchester City is back. The odds for a home win do look quite appealing until you take a quick look at the form of Pep Guardiola’s side since the start of the year. Burnley has won some big games recently, but City looks to be really in the mood at the moment.

Burnley failed to record a single effort on target in its game against Chelsea at the weekend, but Sean Dyche would probably have wished that the London club had held off from sacking Frank Lampard for another week. Thomas Tuchel had his new team playing a much-improved style of soccer, and Burnley never really stood a chance.

Sean Dyche has slight injury concerns over Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, but both should be fine to face City. They will probably be the only attacking outlets in the team, but this might be more of a defensive and midfield battle for the Clarets as they look to restrict their opponents as much as possible.

Stopping this Manchester City team is easier said than done, though. Guardiola felt able to leave out Raheem Sterling and John Stones for the game against Sheffield United at the weekend and was still able to celebrate yet another win. The narrow margin of victory doesn’t really reflect how much better City was.

Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero will still be absent for this one, but there are more than enough options in the City midfield for providing creativity – and players like Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have really stepped up when they have been given the opportunity in recent weeks.

Although Burnley was purchased by US owners in December in a big-money deal, there has not been any real transfer activity in the transfer window. So it seems as though Dyche will need to work with the players he has to keep the club up this year. That should not be too much of a problem – but it is unlikely that he will be celebrating any more points on Wednesday.