Manchester City v Burnley
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
City of Manchester Stadium, 3pm
Manchester City will be looking to alter a run of four consecutive draws on Saturday afternoon when they entertain Burnley at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The recent performances of Mark Hughes’ side have somewhat extinguished some of the preseason optimism amongst fans with elements of ‘Typical City’ still there for all to see.
The squandering of a lead at home to Fulham is something that has happened before in the not too distant past, while a lacklustre performance away to Birmingham City last weekend could have been much worse were it not for the heroics of goalkeeper Shay Given. The Irishman pulled off a string of fine saves, including one to deny James McFadden from the penalty spot.
Striker Emmanuel Adebayor was sorely missed at St. Andrews, particularly considering the ineffectiveness of his replacement Roque Santa Cruz. The Togo international should return for this game, while Stephen Ireland must surely be pushing for a recall to the starting eleven in the middle of the park.
Recently-appointed club captain Kolo Toure has trained this week, though Nedum Onuoha is still not fully fit after a two month layoff.
“Ade and Kolo have trained over the last two days, they have had a couple of sessions without a reaction, so the feeling is that they will be OK for the weekend,” said Hughes.
“You always look to players that can produce moments of magic when the team is not dominating things as you would like and those kinds of players can change the game in your favour.”
“Ade certainly has that capability, and having him as an option for Burnley will be a bonus for us.”
Full back Wayne Bridge is a slight strain above the knee.
Burnley meanwhile include two former Blues in their ranks in Stephen Jordan and Tyrone Mears, and both will no doubt be looking to put one over on their former club.
Jordan admitted that it would be a dream to score the winner on Saturday against the team he has supported since he was a kid and for whom he made 51 appearances.
“I suppose it would be a dream to get the winner. A lot of people mention I’ve never scored, and it would be nice to get that off my back,” he said.
“City was my club, I was a City fan when I was a kid, so it was my dream to play for them. I’d come to my end at Manchester City and Burnley came in more or less straight away really. I was in and out of the team and came here to play regular first team football. I couldn’t have had happier memories (of City), but now I’m at Burnley and looking to do great things here.”
Burnley manager Owen Coyle has spoken of his admiration for his opposite number Mark Hughes, saying that the Welshman has done well wherever he has been so far.
“Mark is very talented as he has shown,” he said. “He has got the finance and huge wealth at his disposal. But at times he hasn’t. He has worked hard and made his name as he is very good at what he does. I think they have everything at their disposal; the depth of the squad, real quality and a fantastic fanbase who are crying out for success. The stadium itself is a magnificent arena so everything’s positive. There’s no doubt they have a fantastic manager.”
The Turf Moor side are still without long term injury victims Martin Paterson, Chris McCann (both knee) and Jay Rodriguez (ankle) as they look to pick up their first points on the road this season.
Squads:
Manchester City – Given, Bridge, Zabaleta, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, de Jong, Toure, Ireland, Barry, Kompany, Bellamy, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Petrov, Sylvinho, Richards, Taylor, Johnson, Weiss.
Burnley – Jensen, Caldwell, Mears, Eckersley, Duff, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Fletcher, Elliott, Blake, Thompson, Eagles, Penny, Kalvanes, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Easton, Nugent, Guerrero, McDonald.
Key player:
Manchester City –
Gareth Barry – The summer signing from Aston Villa has only shown flashes of his undoubted ability since his arrival. Indeed, has struggled on a number of occasions, most notably on both of his returns to Birmingham to face Villa and City where he was subject to much abuse. Playing alongside the more reserved Nigel de Jong, it is Barry’s responsibility to get forward and support the strikers from midfield but his ventures forward to date haven’t proved too profitable.
Burnley –
Brian Jensen – The man mountain goalkeeper has been in outstanding form for Burnley this season and has pulled off some world class saves. He will need to be at his best on Saturday, especially if City are in the mood to play the free flowing football they are capable of. An excellent shot stopper and good commander of his area, the 34 year old has now made over 200 appearances for the Clarets.
Flashback –
1998/99 –
City and Burnley met twice in the Second Division in the 1998/99 season. On October 3rd, 1998, they played out a 2-2 draw at Maine Road. The return fixture in March 1999 was a much more one sided affair as a rampant City side ran out easy 6-0 winners.
2001/02 –
The sides also met in the First Division three seasons later, and again it was City who had the better of things. They picked up three points at Turf Moor with a 4-2 win thanks to a Shaun Goater hattrick and one from Paulo Wanchope. At Maine Road, it was Wanchope’s turn to collect the match ball in a 5-1 win. Eyal Berkovic and Darren Huckerby also got on the scoresheet, with the only reply coming from a Glen Little penalty.
Prediction:
City 2 (Adebayor, Bellamy)
Burnley 0
A massive thanks to Xavi6 from www.mancityfans.net for this match preview. You can discuss this article and much more on our forum by clicking the link.