Burnley vs Manchester City
The Premier League title race is hurtling towards a dramatic conclusion, with three games to go and Manchester City leading Liverpool by a solitary point.
The Sky Blues came through their most difficult game of the run-in last night, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford. But that’s over now and Pep Guardiola’s focus is on a task of a very different nature. Sunday Lunch in Burnley won’t be a picnic for the reigning champions, against a side in the image of granite hard boss Sean Dyche.
Games at home to Leicester City and a final day fixture at relegation threatened Brighton follow this test for Manchester City. But with the Clarets coming into the game pretty much safe from relegation and bang in form it could be the Champions’ biggest test.
Talking Points
It’s all in the Sky Blues’s hands
So with nine points to play for Manchester City will win back-to-back titles if they just continue their winning streak. Pep Guardiola guards against complacency though and will tell his players to expect Burnley’s long balls, fights for second balls and a serious cutting edge.
He has a team of stratospheric quality and in all conventional wisdom they have enough to see the job through. Young Phil Foden scored the only goal of the game when the Sky Blues earned a crucial home win against Spurs last week. Then he was rested in favour of David Silva in the Manchester Derby; and the Spaniard ran the show as City did their job with consummate professionalism. That win swung the Premier League 2019 betting odds firmly in the Sky Blues’ favour, and they won’t take their foot of the gas on Sunday in Burnley, so I expect Silva to start again.
Influential midfielder Fernandinho went off injured at Old Trafford so that might mean a start for Leroy Sane who came off the bench to score. And Guardiola may have a decision to make at the back. Skipper Vincent Kompany was preferred to Nicolas Otamendi in the derby, but the Argentine centre back may get the nod at Turf Moor.
A season of two halves for Burnley
The early Premier League 2019 news around the bottom end of the table spelled out doom and gloom for the Clarets, as they were entrenched in the relegation zone with just 12 points from 19 games at Christmas, suffering a 1-5 hammering at home to Everton on Boxing Day.
But since then the Clarets have earned 28 points from the next 16, enough to put them in the top six in 2019, and they have scored more goals (27) in the second half of the season than Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The Clarets followed up a run of three wins with a battling 2-2 draw away to Chelsea on Monday, in a game the Blues desperately needed to win, but the point for Burnley meant that they moved nine clear of the drop with three games to play, and a strong goal difference.
So what has been the difference? Well, club captain Tom Heaton returned in goal and the defence began to play as a unit again, while the emergence of 19 year old wing wizard Dwight McNeil has provided a steady supply to strikers Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood, who have both hit double figures.
Meanwhile, with seven assists, midfielder Ashley Westwood has made a dramatic impact on an ever improving team.
History
City has already beaten Burnley twice this season by 5-0, once in the league and once in the FA Cup, but that was before the Clarets’ remarkable transformation.
And last season this game ended in a 1-1 draw when Johann Berg Gudmundsson scored a late equaliser for the Clarets after Raheem Sterling had missed a sitter at the other end.
In the 13 head to head games played since 2001, the Sky Blues have won nine while Burnley has won just one and drawn three, and with an 11 match winning streak I’d expect the visitors to make it 12 and end Burnley’s latest unbeaten run of four.
Betting Tip
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Burnley vs Manchester City | Burnley Asian Handicap +2.25 @ 1.91 |
| April 28, 21:05 (GMT+8) |
The latest SBOBET odds would see anything other than a Manchester City win as an epic shock, with Burnley at 15.50, the draw at 6.20 and City at 1.18.
But against similar long odds the Clarets drew away to Manchester United as well as Chelsea, and recently ended Spurs’ title aspirations with a 2-1 win at Turf Moor.
The most likely score is 0-2 at 6.20 and Pep Guardiola would be delighted with that. Expect a tough battle with the Sky Blues to squeeze through by one or two goals.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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