Burnley

Manchester City make six changes to the side that won at Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

The major team news sees the return of striker Erling Haaland up front, after the Norwegian missed the trip to West Yorkshire because of a back injury.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku all start with James Trafford on the bench against his old club, while John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb and Divine Mukasa all drop out.

Manchester City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Reijnders, Gonzalez, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland

Burnley boss Scott Parker reverts to his strongest XI after their shock Carabao Cup defeat by League One Cardiff City.

Former City captain Kyle Walker makes a return to Etihad Stadium where he enjoyed eight trophy-filled years under Pep Guardiola.

The likes of Armando Broja, Hannibal Mejbri, Marcus Edwards and Axel Tuanzebe drop out of the starting line-up.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Esteve, Ekdal, Hartmann, Florentino, Tchouna, Cullen, Laurent, Anthony, Foster

There are seven games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Brentford v Manchester United (12:30)

• Chelsea v Brighton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Crystal Palace v Liverpool - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Leeds United v Bournemouth

• Manchester City v Burnley

• Nottingham Forest v Sunderland (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Tottenham v Wolves (20:00)

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Crystal Palace v Liverpool" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Nottingham Forest v Sunderland", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Pep Guardiola parks the bus - or at least he did against Arsenal last week - but it is going to be Burnley who try to do that this time.

The Clarets almost held out against Liverpool and they ran Manchester United close too, but I don't see them keeping City quiet

Sutton's prediction: 3-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

BBC Sport examines some of the main talking points as Manchester City prepare to host Burnley on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola spoke this week of his City side "recovering many, many things that last season we were missing", but statistically they have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign since 2006.

City are ninth in the table, eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool. They have been in the lead for 54% of their total minutes played, more than any other side, yet have only won two of five league games.

There has been heavy scrutiny of Sunday's draw at Arsenal, when City's 32.8% share of possession was the lowest of Guardiola's 601 top-flight matches as a manager. The Catalan admits the increasingly daring approach of opposition sides has forced him to adapt tactically after years of City dominating through patient build-up play.

There are clear signs amid Manchester City's stuttering start that they are developing new weapons. By defending deeper, they have been able to create space for Erling Haaland and others on the counter-attack; City have scored a league-high three goals this season from breakaway attacks which started in their own half. That is already as many as in the whole of 2024-25, and one more than in 2023-24.

On Saturday, City are likely to revert to familiar ways against a Burnley side with the division's lowest average possession figure of 34%. Furthermore, City have won the past 13 meetings by an aggregate score of 46-2, which is the fifth longest winning run in their history against one side.

Testing start for promoted Burnley

Burnley have not triumphed in 19 league visits to Manchester City, since a 5-2 victory in March 1963.

Scott Parker's side have endured a predictably tough start to the season, compounded by Tuesday's EFL Cup home defeat by Cardiff City. An unforgiving Premier League fixture list means they have already played Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Burnley have faced the most shots (95) in the division, with summer signing Martin Dubravka making an unrivalled 19 saves so far.

Dubravka has also launched 61 goal-kicks into the opposition's half, more than twice as many as any other team. That strategy is a far cry from two seasons ago when Vincent Kompany's promoted Burnley side stuck to their short-passing principles. They only took four points from their opening 13 games and finished second bottom.

The current team have the same tally after five matches – will their eventual fate be any different?

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport football statistician

Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have taken a combined 19 points from their opening five games, making it the best start to a Premier League season by the promoted sides since 2017-18.

In fact, only four times in Premier League history have the promoted sides made a better start to a season.

So why have this season's trio started so much better than Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton last campaign?

Because they've been much more successful at keeping Premier League opposition at bay, conceding six fewer goals and giving up 31 fewer chances between them.

Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland haven't actually been much better in attack.

While they've scored four more goals than the promoted sides did at this stage last season, they've taken a similar number of shots and generated fewer expected goals between them, so there's still room for improvement going forward.

Burnley left-back Quilindschy Hartman has been speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire about his time with the Clarets since his move from Feyenoord in the summer, having featured in all five Premier League games so far this season.

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Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Burnley boss Scott Parker has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Despite just the one win and one draw from their opening five Premier League games, Parker feels the side are in a "good place" after "some really tough and challenging fixtures to start this season".

• He added: "We've had to show some resilience at times, which has been hugely encouraging for me as a manager. We have been posed some tough challenges and have taken some real encouragement from them. We have been on the wrong end of a couple of those results in the last minute with two penalties, but overall I'm really pleased with where we are."

• The Clarets boss feels they are coming up against a "colossus" of a team in Manchester City: "We understand that. At times we will have to suffer, but we will adopt a confidence and a belief that we can show the best version of ourselves and hopefully cause them problems."

• On the impact of Kyle Walker since he joined: "He has been massive for us because of his experience and his quality. We've all seen his quality in a real short period of time. The biggest compliment I can pay to him is his reaction to the different environment and different way of playing here."

• He added: "When bringing him to Turf Moor, I had absolutely no doubt that he would embrace every bit of it - and he has done that. I've never seen frustration in him - instead, I've seen a positive mindset."

• On if playing three at the back has become plan A for the side: "Fair to say it has been our main structure this year. In saying that, we have been pretty flexible. Sometimes we have had different personnel and been more defensive, other times we have been looser. But we have done an extreme amount of work over pre-season in different variations of main structure."

• Parker called City boss Pep Guardiola "a genius of a coach" and said no-one in the room would "argue" about him changing his team's style against Arsenal: "Fundamentally, we all try to see what players have we got in this moment and what is working. What you see best in that moment is how you operate."

Listen to live commentary of Man City v Burnley on BBC Radio Lancashire (95.5FM) at 15:00 on Saturday

Catch up on all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley manager Scott Parker speaking after their 2-1 exit from the Carabao Cup against Cardiff City: "Fundamentally, it was a disappointing night.

"Firstly, disappointing result, because we came here wanting to win the game. I think it's fair to say performance-wise, we were way short, certainly in the first half. Really, really short.

"And in terms of where we want to be, in terms of what we were, and what we are, we just felt a little bit short of our standards tonight.

"Second half, there was an improvement, but if you give a team a two-nil head start in the first half it gave ourselves a big climb.

"We had some good chances in the second half, but I think on reflection of the game if we're all being brutally honest, we probably didn't deserve to win."

On the problems Burnley faced: "I think there were a number of issues. There were some tactical elements we needed to fix a little bit.

"Generally, we were poor in the first half in every phase of our game really, in terms of pressing, in terms of our intensity.

"We opened up the pitch really easily for the opposition. On the flipside, with the ball as well, we were quite slow at times.

"It was just a general mix really - we just looked a little yard off it in every phase."

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Getty Images

This was a Championship fixture last season but, with Burnley soaring back to the Premier League with 100 points and Cardiff finishing bottom to drop down to the third tier for the first time in 22 years, the two sides met at Turf Moor two divisions apart.

Whereas Burnley boss Scott Parker switched his entire team from the weekend, Cardiff's line-up showed five changes from their first defeat of the season at home to Bradford City.

The Bluebirds' greater continuity – and promising start to the campaign – was evident as they controlled the opening exchanges, pressing Burnley effectively and keeping possession with relative ease.

Burnley's new-look team struggled to string together any consistent patterns of play, but they should have equalised when Armando Broja was set free by Marcus Edwards' through ball, only to see his low effort kept out by Nathan Trott.

After Zian Flemming had pulled a goal back, the Cardiff keeper made two good saves from Mike Tresor and following that, although Burnley desperately flung the ball into the visitors' penalty area late on, Brian Barry-Murphy's men stood firm.

But Cardiff had chances to extend their lead and were well worth their victory.

Burnley boss Scott Parker changes his entire team for tonight's League Cup tie with Cardiff.

None of those who started against Nottingham Forest at the weekend are involved at all, with Lesley Ugochukwu - suspended for that match - among those starting this game.

Burnley XI: Weiss, Sonne, Tuanzebe, Worrall, Humphreys, Pires, Ugochukwu, Hannibal, Edwards, Broja, Flemming

Subs: Hladky, Pouani, Clark, Pimlott, Brierley, Campbell, Banel, Tresor, Barnes

League One side Cardiff make five changes with Perry Ng, Calum Chambers, Joel Colwill, Isaak Davies and Callum Robinson all coming in.

Cardiff City XI: Trott, Ng, Chambers, Fish, Bagan, Wintle, J. Colwill, R. Colwill, Ashford, Davies, Robinson.

Subs: Turner, Osho, Giles, Mafico, Turnbull, Kellyman, Nyakuhwa, Willock, Salech.

There are eight games in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday - six involving Premier League sides - and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Barnsley v Brighton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3

• Burnley v Cardiff City

• Fulham v Cambridge United - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Lincoln City v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Wolves v Everton

• Liverpool v Southampton (20:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

Kick-off times 19:45 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Lincoln v Chelsea" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Southampton", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

Natalie Bromley
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

The Burnley side of two years ago would have lost that game on Saturday - by a heavy margin too.

But Scott Parker's new Clarets have something the old one didn't: mental toughness.

Going behind so early in a game is a nightmare for any team. The manager's strategy and approach goes out of the window right away, and the players have to start chasing.

This is particularly pertinent when you are a side like Burnley, who are set up to play tight and try to attack on the counter. It was therefore particularly pleasing to see such a strong attitude and determination to get back into that game.

And, indeed, if we were a little less wasteful and a little more sophisticated in front of goal, we could have won by at least two goals.

By the end a point felt like a fair result. What every Burnley fan should be mindful of, however, is that this 'struggling' Nottingham Forest side is a lot better than the headlines and their league position suggests.

They are physically commanding in midfield and have forward players who are not shy in trying to score. Contrast that to Burnley, who look a little overrun in midfield when playing five at the back, and who seem to want to take 50 passes before anyone has a shot on target.

The relegation battle is going to be tough, and there aren't many sides who look obvious choices to go down. Leeds, Burnley, and Sunderland included!

UTC.

Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast, external

Steve Wyeth
Final Score reporter at Turf Moor

Image source, Getty Images

There was a demonstration at Turf Moor on Saturday of the value of a top-quality, experienced goalkeeper.

Burnley have recruited extensively in pursuit of Premier League survival, but the arrival of a well-known, established number one to replace James Trafford looks particularly astute.

But for 36 year-old Martin Dubravka, Burnley might be lamenting another cruel defeat when they had worked so hard to earn a point against Nottingham Forest.

Dubravka made a fine stop to deny Dilane Bakwa in the first half but it was late in the game when he became the pivotal figure.

Twice he had to react sharply in appalling conditions to thwart first Igor Jesus and then Neco Williams.

Burnley had their moments to win the game too but the lingering memory is that their veteran goalkeeper - who said afterwards that he is "trying to help the others with my experience" - made sure they didn't lose it.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Burnley and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Burnley fans

Ian: Jaidon Anthony brings a tremendous amount of energy to Burnley and is genuinely skillful, but I just wonder why they don't work on his shooting. Meanwhile, Scott Parker's loyalty to his players is admirable, but surely, in a game as important as this one, leaving Neco Williams unmarked at the edge of the box deserves a rollocking!

Paul: Brave performance but didn't really deserve a point. Martin Dubravka was superb and will need to be all season if we are going to survive. Promising performances from the two newbies, Loum Tchaouna and Florentino Luis. We need Armando Broja to contribute.

Graham: An excellent team performance in awful conditions and after going a goal behind so early. A real show of skill, strength, character, and determination to get level, and drive on. A draw was a fair result in the end but Burnley should be massively encouraged by both this team performance, and by individual contributions by the likes of Anthony, Dubravka, Florentino, Lyle Foster, and Kyle Walker. We are not out of place at this level.

Peter; When we learn how to make a decent final pass, we'll be a real threat. Until then, just hang on.

Forest fans

Supered: Poor result against one of the weaker teams this season. Forest are in a relegation battle. Angeball does not work - it was found out within 20 games. Fear the worst for Wednesday.

Rick: The talent is obvious. Give Ange the time - no more than a month - you can bet your last dollar and watch him him put us in the top five before Christmas.

Mossy: Postecoglou has not had a easy start at Forest, trying to incorporate new players and four away games, which are all potential banana skins. His first game at the City Ground in front of the supporters will see if the tactics he prefers are popular.

Jon: Can we get rid of the manager now? The joke's not funny anymore. I've completely lost interest in this season. First Nuno throwing his teddies out of his pram and now this managerial appointment. It's as if the owner enjoys this nonsense and upheaval season after season.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley have proved they can cut it in the Premier League, according to boss Scott Parker.

Oleksandr Zinchenko's own goal earned them a deserved 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest and eased any pain from last weekend's last-gasp defeat by Liverpool.

The Clarets were also close to taking a point at Manchester United, losing 3-2 to Bruno Fernandes' stoppage-time penalty.

They now go to Manchester City and Aston Villa in the league, but Parker believes they have proved their credentials already.

"We have shown we are very competitive," he said, after the Clarets came from behind following Neco Williams' early opener.

"At United, we go a goal down and it could be anything at certain moments. We go in front and then from kick-off they score again - it's another setback but we then get ourselves back in front.

"This team has shown a resilience and character - not much dents them. They react in the right way. We need to continue that. It's still early in the season, but we need to take that and realise how important it is."

The Clarets sit just above the relegation zone with four points having beaten Sunderland at Turf Moor last month.

Parker added: "There's no denying when the fixtures came out it was a tough start. Facing Tottenham, United, Liverpool and now Manchester City... and I include Forest - this is a team playing in Europe next week.

"It was the best we played this season. We showed another side to us and we showed huge quality with the ball."

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy join host Kelly Cates to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brighton 2-2 Tottenham

• Wolves 1-3 Leeds

• Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

As the rain hammered down at Turf Moor, Burnley put their bodies on the line once more.

This time, unlike the last-gasp defeat to Liverpool last week, they took a deserved point and one which can send a message about their home form.

A win over Sunderland was followed by an EFL Cup triumph over Derby and had it not been for Mohamed Salah's injury-time penalty last week they would be unbeaten at Turf Moor.

Scott Parker's side had chances to win and were good value for their point, even if they did need Martin Dubravka to make two fine late stops to deny Igor Jesus and Neco Williams.

As so often for a promoted side, the Clarets' home form is likely to decide whether they survive or face an immediate return to the Championship.

They recovered from the early setback of going behind to Williams' strike and could have been ahead by half-time after growing into the game.

On the evidence so far there are enough battling qualities - laced with talent - to give them more than just a fighting chance of staying up.

Scott Parker spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Burnley's draw against Nottingham Forest: "The point is fair enough. Over the course of the game we had some good chances, Forest had some as well. A point is a fair result.

"Not ideal. To come out that early and for them to get in front wasn't ideal. hat pleased me most was our character. We came with a real dominance after that.

"I'm learning things about the team, what is being confirmed is this team have got some real character. When they need to dig in they dig in. This was our best performance in terms of showing our character. We keep improving."

On Florentino: "His experience, his calmness, the boy has been on this stage and you see that in his quality today, certainly after an early booking."

On Kyle Walker: "Kyle was every bit of the player that we expected to come in today. A driving force for us. At the end, he was on fumes and there is something in him that he has to push. I'm always reluctant to single out individuals but him and Martin [Dubravka] were very good.

"There's no denying this year, the quality we are up against the goalkeeper is going to play a pivotal role. He was vital for us. We knew that when we brought Martin in."

On the season so far: "I'm massively encouraged. The facts are we have had a tough start to this campaign but we have been hugely competitive. We need to maintain that and I am always conscious of that."

Martin Dubravka also spoke to MOTD after Saturday's draw: "I was quite busy today but that's why I'm there, I was just trying to help my team-mates.

"It was difficult, considering the early goal. We needed to show character, we stuck together, we fought hard and one point - we need that.

"We are just trying to stay in the game, they have a lot of good players, they created a lot of chances but we defended well. The last two results were a bit hard on us but we showed the character and we fought hard."

Did you know?

Burnley have now gone 26 home league games without conceding more than once, since a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in May 2024.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Burnley's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Come back on Sunday for a selection of your replies

Midfielder Florentino makes his full Burnley debut against Nottingham Forest.

The 26-year-old, who signed on loan from Benfica on deadline day, replaces the suspended Lesley Ugochukwu after his red card in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.

Veteran striker Ashley Barnes returns to the bench for the Clarets.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Hartman Esteve, Foster, Anthony, Florentino, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Cullen, Laurent.

Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Edwards, Humphreys, Flemming, Pires, Broja, Hannibal, Barnes

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Dilane Bakwa and Morato come in for Nottingham Forest from their defeat at Arsenal last weekend.

Juventus loanee Luiz is given his Premier League debut along with Arsenal loanee Zinchenko after they both started in the 3-2 EFL Cup defeat at Swansea on Wednesday.

Morato replaces Murillo who has failed to shake off a knock he suffered at the Emirates.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Morato, Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Ndoye, Wood

Subs: Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo, I. Jesus, Hutchinson, Yates, Jair Cunha, McAtee

There are seven games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Liverpool v Everton (12:30)

• Brighton v Tottenham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Burnley v Nottingham Forest

• West Ham v Crystal Palace

• Wolves v Leeds

• Manchester United v Chelsea (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Fulham v Brentford (20:00)

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here