English Premier League Soccer - Manchester City vs. Burnley, 6/22/20 - Preview, Prediction & Odds
Having already kicked off the Premier League restart with a victory against Arsenal on Wednesday, 2nd-placed Manchester City will try to continue things going while hosting 11th-placed Burnley, who are unbeaten in their last seven games. Kick-off - at 15:00 PM ET on Monday, June 22.
Man City Return On A High
The return to Premier League action following a 100-day break due to the coronavirus outbreak turned out victorious for reigning champions Manchester City, who banked a 3-0 win against Arsenal at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the dying moments of the first half, Kevin De Bruyne converted from the spot at the start of the second just after the Gunners had a player sent off, while Phil Foden topped it off with an injury-time marker. With three wins in their last four EPL contests (W3 L1), the Citizens sit 2nd in the league (W19 D3 L7), six points ahead of 3rd-placed Leicester City, but with a game in hand.
Sergio Aguero, Sterling, and Gabriel Jesus are all on double digits for Premier League goals this season, having netted 16, 12 and 10 times respectively. Goalie Ederson, meanwhile, sits 18th in the league with 50 saves. He has collected 10 clean sheets in 26 contests during the current campaign and gives up a goal every 94 minutes of play. Manchester City has netted the absolute highest amount of goals this year (71) while delivering the highest quantity of shots per game (19.4). The team is top of the league in both ball possession (61.7%) and passing accuracy (89.0%).
Burnley Impress In Seven Straight
Since rejoining the Premier League four years ago, Burnley have been quite a solid proposition in England’s top tier, finishing as high as 7th in 2017-18. This year, the Clarets are refusing to give up on their hope to qualify for European soccer once more and are doing quite a good job in maintaining their stance of finishing in the top-seven. The team sits 11th in the EPL (W11 D6 L12), just five points off a place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, currently riding a seven-game unbeaten run (W4 D3), with victories against Manchester United (2-0) and Leicester City (2-1), and draws versus Arsenal (0-0) and Tottenham Hotspur (101) all confirming the Lancashire club’s ambition.
Forwards Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes lead the Clarets with 11 and six goals respectively, but will be missing the trip to Manchester through injuries. Goalie Nick Pope, meanwhile, will be hoping to improve his saves tally, currently sitting 7th in the Premier League, having stopped 89 shots. He has a league-high 11 clean sheets alongside Sheffield United’s Dean Henderson and allows a goal every 65 minutes on average. Burnley are 12th in most goals scored this season (34), 15th in most shots taken per game (10.4), 2nd from the bottom in ball possession (43.1%), and bottom of the league in passing accuracy (68.4%).
Prediction
Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, who leads Manchester City with 16 league strikes this season, has an excellent record against Burnley. He has banked nine goals in nine encounters with the Clarets in all competitions, finding the back of the net in all five domestic meetings with them, tallying the first goal of the match in three of those fixtures. Burnley will be without injured forwards Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, who collectively have scored half of the team’s Premier League goals this year, leaving the Lancashire club quite weak on the offensive side of the pitch. Three of the last four victories of the Citizens against Burnley have already finished with a clean sheet for the Manchester team, so bank on another blanking here.
Best bets:
Manchester City to win to nil (-110)
Sergio Aguero to score first goal (+235)