Manchester City vs Burnley

Manchester City will entertain out-of-sorts Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in what appears to be another day in the office for the reigning Premier League holders.

The hosts have hit the ground running in the Premier League following a disappointing 1-0 away loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Matchday 1, going unbeaten in their subsequent six league matches (W4, D2). However, those two draws have come in their last three top-flight fixtures, including a hard-earned 2-2 away stalemate with Liverpool last time out. Despite being held to an uneventful scoreless draw to Southampton in their most recent Premier League home fixture, the ‘Citizens’ boast the league-best defensive record at home. They’ve kept a clean sheet in all three top-flight games at the Etihad this season. Burnley’s visit is likely to help Pep Guardiola’s side get back to winning ways, as they’ve won each of their last five Premier League H2Hs at this venue by an aggregate score of 20-1, including a hat-trick of 5-0 victories in their most recent three showdowns here.

In the meantime, the international break came at an opportune time for Burnley, who remain one of just four sides yet to win a single Premier League fixture this term (D3, L4). By extension, the ‘Clarets’ are riding on a disastrous ten-match winless Premier League run (D3, L7), which stands for the worst ongoing such streak across the top four tiers of English football. Nailed to the drop zone, a point adrift of safety, Sean Dyche’s side look like a doomed outfit here, having won just two from their last 30 available against Man City (D1, L9) since eking out a narrow 1-0 triumph at Turf Moor in March 2015. Burnley can at least find some courage in the fact that each of their last four Premier League victories has come on foreign turf.