Manchester City vs Burnley 14/03/20

14 March 2020

In-form Burnley travel to the Etihad Stadium, hoping to post their elusive first Premier League (PL) away win over Manchester City in the 21^st century (D2, L3).

A 2-0 away loss to Manchester United now means that none of City’s last five league matches has ended in a draw (W3, L2), with each of those results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet. But, the reigning champions go into this encounter unbeaten in five straight PL home fixtures (W4, D1), scoring over 1.5 goals in each of those games. In turn, Pep Guardiola’s men have netted two goals or more in 11 of 13 PL home matches so far this season, with only Liverpool (40) scoring more home goals than City (33). The majority (58%) of those 33 league home goals scored came in the second half of play (19) while the Citizens shipped only five in that period.

As for the visitors, a 1-1 home draw with Tottenham last time out has marked their seventh successive league match without a loss (W4, D3). Curiously, only one of Burnley’s last ten PL away games has ended in a draw (W4, L5), with seven of their nine results (win/loss) in that stretch seeing the winner on the day preserve a blank sheet. If the Clarets concede the opening goal, as they’ve done in seven of 14 PL trips so far, they may find themselves in trouble – they secured just two points across those seven fixtures (D2, L5). But, slow starts on the road could also be setting them back here. Indeed, only 36% (five) of their 14 PL away goals scored arrived in the first half of play.