EFL Carabao Cup 4th round preview: Burnley V Manchester City

Categories: Football | Published by: AC

30/09/2020

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EFL Carabao Cup 4th round preview: Burnley V Manchester City – Turf Moor – Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – 19:00 hrs

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Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will continue their defence of the EFL Cup title when they clash with Burnley in a fourth-round encounter away at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.

City still licking their wounds inflicted by a 2-5 drubbing at the hands of Leicester on Saturday will be desperately trying to redeem themselves at Turf Moor while Burnley too have a point to prove after their 0-1 loss to Southampton last weekend.

City's aura of infallibility as far as the EFL Cup is concerned is still alive with them looking to become only the second team after Liverpool to lift the trophy four years in a row.

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City have won this competition five times in the last seven seasons and have edged closer to another triumph by beating Bournemouth 2-1 in a third-round clash last week.

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Burnley will of course be a tougher proposition than Bournemouth and Guardiola's defensive weakness could be tested again at Turf Moor what with a host of injuries plaguing him not only at the back but in the attack too.

Sean Dyche on the other hand has a squad comprising of regular first-timers, and an even longer injury list while he does not have the means to spend millions bolstering their ranks like their forthcoming rivals.

City will be without a senior striker in the form of Gabriel Jesus and record scorer Sergio Aguero out of action with injuries. Thus 17-year old Liam Delap appears the most likely candidate for the striker's role at Turf Moor.

The very dependable centre-back Aymeric Laporte could make his first appearance of the season after having recovered from a coronavirus infection.

Ilkay Gundogan is still in isolation after being tested positive, while defender John Stones is also doubtful after missing the weekend defeat owing to fitness issues.

Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo are also currently sidelined through injuries. Guardiola could thus be forced to include the likes of the more untested folks like Adrian Bernabe, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Zack Steffen and Tommy Doyle for a start.

Burnley will be without some key players like Ben Mee, Jack Cork and Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

Dyche could however have a number of players re-joining soon, that includes the likes of James Tarkowski, Robbie Brady and Jay Rodriguez.

Key striker Ashley Barnes has been stepping up his fitness with the Under-23 side and could be introduced at some part of the match if not the start.

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Peacock-Farrell (goal); Lowton, Long, Dunne, Taylor; Pieters, Benson, Brownhill, McNeil; Vydra, Wood

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Alisson/Steffen (goal); Walker, Harwood-Bellis, Laporte, Bernabe; Doyle, Rodri; Foden, De Bruyne, Torres; Delap

If Burnley manage to dethrone the long-standing cup holders on Wednesday, then it would be their best League Cup showing since reaching the semi-final in 2008-09.

It is already the furthest the Clarets have gone in this competition since 2013-14. Manchester City have an overwhelming history against Burnley having won nine of their last 10 meetings across all competitions.

So, the online bookmakers odds are heavily stacked against the hosts. But Burnley could be a difficult side to deal with at Turf Moor and with a City team so bereft of top players a surprise win for the hosts cannot be ruled out.