It may feel like the 2020/21 season has just begun, but the EFL Cup has already reached the Round of 16, with Burnley hosting Manchester City at Turf Moor on Wednesday.
Burnley were knocked out by Sunderland in just the second round last year, while Man City beat Aston Villa 2-1 to secure their third straight triumph in this competition.
This season, the Clarets edged past Sheffield United on penalties in the first round, before beating Championship outfit Millwall 2-0 in the previous round.
Unfortunately for Sean Dyche’s men, their Premier League campaign hasn’t started well. Burnley were thrashed 4-2 by Leicester on the opening weekend, with Southampton beating them 1-0 last time out.
Of course, it is still early days. But with no points and a goal difference of –3, Burnley come into this game sitting just inside the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, after kicking their Premier League campaign off with a 3-1 victory over Wolves, Man City advanced to the EFL Cup Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
Having started the new season with back-to-back wins, everything was looking good for Pep Guardiola’s side. But their previous result – and performance – tarnished their strong start.
Despite taking the lead through a stunning Riyad Mahrez goal, Man City were hammered 5-2 on home soil by Leicester on Sunday.
New signing Nathan Ake pulled a goal back for the Cityzens late on, but a 21-minute Jamie Vardy hat-trick had already done the damage by then.
Head-to-head: It’s safe to say that Burnley have not enjoyed playing against Man City in recent years. City come into this game on the back of five straight wins in this fixture and haven’t lost to Burnley in ten attempts.
It is also worth pointing out that Man City have scored over 3.5 goals in five of their previous six wins against Burnley in all competitions, with three 5-0 victories in in their past five meetings.
Teams news: Burnley are without a number of first-team regulars at the moment, with Jack Cork, Ben Mee, James Tarkowski and Ashley Barnes all out injured.
Man City are missing Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus and John Stones, although Guardiola has a far deeper squad than Dyche.
Considering the recent head-to-head record between these two sides, it’s difficult to make a case for Burnley getting anything from this game.
Forebet predicts that Man City will secure yet another high-scoring victory over the Clarets, with over 3.5 goals likely to be scored by the visitors.
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