Burnley vs Manchester City

Manchester City’s Premier League title defense gets underway at Turf Moor against newly-promoted Burnley.

Burnley’s Premier League return off the back of a historic Championship campaign in 2022/23 kicks off against a Man City side they’ve lost to in their last 11 competitive H2Hs by an aggregate score of 40-1! Vincent Kompany guided his side to an emphatic Championship triumph last term, with the ‘Clarets’ becoming just a fourth club to hit a 100-point landmark in England’s second tier. Despite their impressive league exploits, Kompany’s men have unlikely forgotten a 6-0 demolition at the hands of Man City in last season’s FA Cup. Inspired by a raft of summer signings, Burnley will hope to upset the apple cart at a sold-out Turf Moor despite winning once in four pre-season outings (D2, L1), all of which featured under 2.5 goals.

In the meantime, visiting Manchester City will take the field in a buoyant mood after becoming only the second-ever English side to win a treble last season. Beating Arsenal to the Premier League title saw the ‘Citizens’ extend their domestic dominance to three successive seasons. Not even a 1-0 loss at Brentford on the final weekend spoiled Man City’s celebrations as they won back-to-back grand finals in the aftermath, overcoming Inter Milan and Manchester United in the Champions League and FA Cup showpiece events, respectively. However, Pep Guardiola’s men have opened the new season with a whimper rather than a bang, going down to Arsenal on penalties in last weekend’s Community Shield fixture.