Key events
Scott Parker has an extremely brief chat. Important sartorial update: he’s gone with a grey cableknit sweater tonight, rather than a cardigan.
There ain’t no time to look in the future or look in the past. There’s a huge challenge tonight in front of the cameras and we’re representing a badge and they’re representing themselves. That’s the main challenge really.
Pep Guardiola has a chat with Sky Sports. He says he expects from Burnley “crosses, crosses, always crosses”. Interesting, given that Burnley are 20th in the Premier League this season on average number of crosses per game, and 61 of their crosses have been classified as key passes so far this season, more only than Sunderland and way behind Manchester City’s 79. Anyway, here’s a snippet of Guardiola:
You have to adapt. Huge respect for Burnley, of course. In the Premier League every game you have to do the proper, proper thing. Six games left, we have the opportunity to try to win the three points.
Pep Guardiola had promised changes tonight, but in the end there’s only one and that has been forced on him by Rodri’s injury. So Rayan Aït-Nouri comes in, which means Nico O’Reilly moves into midfield.
The teams!
Tonight’s lineups are in, and are here:
Burnley: Dubravka; Walker, Ekdal, Humphreys, Esteve, Hartman; Tchaouna, Ward-Prowse, Laurent, Anthony; Flemming. Subs: Broja, Edwards, Foster, Florentino, Lucas Pires, Tresor, Ugochukwu, Weiss, Worrall.
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo Silva, O’Reilly; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland. Subs: Ake, Foden, Nico Gonzalez, Kovacic, Omar Marmoush, Savinho, Reijnders, Stones, Trafford.
Referee: Andy Madley.
VAR: Stuart Attwell.
Pre-match reading: Here’s Oliver Hopkins of Opta Analyst on the wonderful Bernardo Silva, who is leaving City at the end of the season and will be missed.
Preamble
Hello world! There are only two Premier League games tonight, but still it could be a pivotal day in the season. Arsenal have been top of the table since they beat West Ham 2-0 on 4 October*, fully 200 days ago by my count, and tonight they will be knocked off their perch if Manchester City win at Burnley.
How likely is that? Well, in City’s last five visits to Turf Moor in all competitions they have come out on top every time, and by an aggregate scoreline of 14-1. No wonder Pep Guardiola says he is “more relaxed than ever”, declaring that nerves are, like, so last season.
“Nervous was last season,” he said. See, I told you that’s what he said. “Pressure was last season. I could bring, as a manager, the team not in the Champions League. Now, I’m more relaxed than ever, even before Arsenal. The feeling is that we have done a really, really good season. Now is the moment to enjoy more than ever.”
A City win would also seal Burnley’s relegation, Scott Parker’s side having won only one league game since October, since when they have taken a miserable 10 points from 24 games.
In a worrying moment Parker revealed yesterday he has “sacrificed my family” to improve Burnley’s chances of success. The Lancashire Constabulary are yet to get involved, though, and it’s being widely assumed that he has not literally sacrificed them. He just means he has worked quite hard. Having said that, if any members of his family are reading this could they please get in touch, it would be hugely reassuring to hear from them.
“Since I’ve come here, I’ve put a Burnley shirt on and I’ve done absolutely everything in my power,” Parker said. “I dedicate everything. I sacrifice my family. I sacrifice a young 10-year-old who moves up and changes school. In fact, at times it’s probably unhealthy how hard I work. I work for just one cause and that’s for this club to try and be successful.”
And yet, he appears to be unpopular with the club’s fans. “I played football for 20 years and I’ve been relegated two or three times,” he added. “I’ve had poor performances but one thing there never, ever was, was a fan base that didn’t appreciate, didn’t absolutely worship [me] in terms of the way I played. That’s just who I am and it kills me that for times this year, that’s not been the case with the fans.”
* On the day Arsenal went top Spurs were third, having lost only one of their first seven games. *crying with laughter emoji”*
