Burnley vs Manchester City. Premier League.
Turf MoorAttendance21,658.
Saturday 3 February 2018 12:29, UK
Manchester City will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 18 points when they face out-of-form Burnley on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
After a strong start to the season, the Clarets' form has dipped recently and they are without a win since December 12.
While they are still seventh in the table, they are bidding to avoid a fourth straight home Premier League defeat for the first time since April 2010.
City, meanwhile, have won their last four games in a row in all competitions after losing 4-3 to Liverpool on January 14.
That includes a 3-0 victory over West Brom in midweek that saw new signing Aymeric Laporte make his debut and City move 15 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table.
"There are 13 games, 39 points to play, we are 15 ahead, it's not over," said City boss Pep Guardiola. "We have tough games left to play. We cannot deny and everyone knows how tough it is at Burnley."
Burnley will be without Steven Defour after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Defender James Tarkowski will also be missing while Stephen Ward (knee) returned to training on Monday and could feature.
David Silva is a doubt for City while Gabriel Jesus and Benjamin Mendy remain out.
Burnley have won one of their last 18 matches against Man City in all competitions (D5 L12), a 1-0 win in March 2015.
Manchester City have won six of their last seven trips to Turf Moor in all competitions, with the other game that 1-0 defeat in 2015.
Burnley have scored the fewest home goals of any Premier League side this season (8), while only Liverpool (32) have scored more on the road than Manchester City (28).
Only Southampton (12 games) are on a longer current winless run in the Premier League than Burnley (8 games).
Manchester City's haul of 68 points from 25 games is a joint top-flight record, with Spurs also doing so in 1960-61 (converting to three points for a win). Tottenham went on to do the League and FA Cup double that season.
Burnley are one of seven Premier League sides yet to be shown a red card this season, but the Clarets have seen more opposition players sent off than any other side (5).
Turf Moor is always a tough place to go but it's really tough to back against Man City at the moment. There'll be plenty of challenges for City in this early kick-off. They might not have things all their own way in this one but they have more than enough quality to overcome any challenges that may crop up.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-3 (13/2 with Sky Bet)
