Burnley v Man City

Burnley vs Man City Preview

The new Premier League season will get underway on Friday night up in Lancashire as this season's curtain-raiser will see newly promoted, Burnley, take on last season's Premier League title-winners, Manchester City, at Turf Moor as former player and current manager of Manchester City, go head-to-head.

Vincent Kompany, the lynch-pin of Pep Guardiola's previously dominant teams will now be seeking to plot the downfall of his former manager on Friday night as he oversees Burnley's triumphant return to the big time.

Burnley achieved automatic promotion at the end of last season's Championship campaign as they finished 10 points clear of runners-up, Sheffield United, amassing a total of 101 points in the process while also losing on just three occasions throughout what was an enormously successful campaign.

Kompany helped steer The Clarets back up into the Premier League at the first time of asking and having suffered just the one defeat out of their previous 29 games on home soil at Turf Moor, hopes will be high that Burnley can at least hold their own this time around and maintain their top flight status by the end of this campaign as well.

Manchester City eventually eased aside a floundering title challenge from Arsenal to claim another Premier League title at the end of last season as The Citizens finished top of the pile by a five-point margin above The Gunners who had actually led Manchester City by a seven-point margin at the turn of the year.

However, Pep Guardiola and his star-studded side are well versed in hanging in there and they pounced upon Arsenal's sudden decline in form in devastating and ruthless fashion as while The Gunners had slumped to winning just three of their final nine games of the season, Manchester City came home with a wet sail by winning seven of their last nine games of the season - including a 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal.

Manchester City actually head into this Premier League season opener with Burnley looking to avoid a third defeat on the trot following a 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid and losing on penalties to Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield, but as we have seen on numerous occasions, when it's time to switch on, Pep's side are not often found wanting when it matters.

City also lost just once in their last nine outings on the road towards the end of the last campaign and picked up six wins in the process, so they will be eager to get off the mark with all three points on Friday night at Turf Moor.

Burnley v Manchester City Verdict

Burnley pretty much swept aside all before them in last season's Championship campaign but the Premier League is a totally different beast and Manchester City will be keen to lay down an early marker in this new season.

Therefore, our main bet will be Man City win & Both Teams To Score No @ 2.00

Other side bets worth considering:

Man City win & Under 2.5 goals @ 3.60

Correct score: Man City 2-0 @ 7.00