Champions take on the champions in Premier League’s curtain raiser
Burnley kick off their 2023/24 Premier League campaign on Friday night (8pm KO) as Manchester City come to Turf Moor.
Vincent Kompany’s men lifted the Championship title last season in impressive style and will come up against last season’s Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League winners in match round one of the new season.
Turf Moor is set for a full house under the lights on Friday with the mouthwatering clash being televised live on Sky Sports.
The Clarets’ squad has been bolstered once more this week ahead of the game with Kompany adding midfielder Sander Berge to his squad and winger Manuel Benson committing his future at Turf Moor and signing a new four-year deal with the Club.
Where to watch?
All tickets for the match are SOLD OUT and completely unavailable to purchase online and at the ticket office.
The game will not be streamed on Clarets+ due to Premier League rules and regulations but the match will be televised live on Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Premier League.
There will however be live audio commentary available on Clarets+ from Phil Bird with co-commentator George Boyd available from 15 minutes before kick-off at 7:45pm.
Full match highlights, goals and interviews will be available to view after the match on Clarets+ and across our social media platforms.
Click here to view all of our Clarets+ packages.
Manchester City
City head into the 2023/24 campaign having won five of the last six Premier League seasons, including the last three seasons consecutively.
Pep Guardiola added two new signings to his squad in the summer with midfielder Mateo Kovacic arriving from Chelsea and young defender Josko Gvaridol joining from Red Bull Leipzig.
Nathan Ake committed his future to the club after penning a new four-year contract at the Etihad, whilst defender Joao Cancelo has returned to the squad after his loan spell at Bayern Munich last season.
City have lost a couple of notable players in the summer too with former skipper Ilkay Gundogan joining Barcelona and Riyad Mahrez moving to Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.
Form guide
The Clarets come into the fixture having lost just twice out of their eight pre-season friendly matches.
Kompany’s men began their pre-season schedule with behind-closed-door victories at the Gawthorpe training ground over Fleetwood Town, Burton Albion, Port Vale and Sheffield Wednesday.
Burnley then suffered defeat at Genk before responding with a deserved win at last season’s Primeira Liga Champions Benfica, with a 1-1 draw against Real Betis to conclude the week-long European trip.
Despite falling to defeat in the final friendly of the summer to Mainz in Germany last weekend, it was a useful work out as the full squad gathered minutes.
City head into the game off the back of defeat after losing the FA Community Shield last Sunday to Arsenal at Wembley on penalties.
Before that, Guardiola’s side spent time in Asia on their pre-season tour where they beat Yokohama Marinos and Bayern Munich before suffering defeat against Atletico Madrid to finish their trip.
What Vincent Kompany said:
“We play against such a good opponent, a team filled with players and people that I know, of course, but probably the best challenge you could ever have, you could ever ask for.
“It will be a great night for everyone involved at a sold-out Turf Moor and I want the team to embrace this game and hopefully the fans can do the same.
“The start of the season is always about building cohesion as fast as you can and without it costing too many results but we’ve been through it before so we know what we have to be cautious about and we’ll also have the opportunities once we’ve gone through it.
“We are well aware of the threats that City have and how strong of a side they are and we need to be at it.”
Last time we met:
The two sides faced each other just five months ago, when the Clarets travelled to the Etihad in the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals.
Erling Haaland’s hat-trick, Julian Alvarez’s brace and a Cole Palmer strike sealed City’s spot in the semi-finals on a difficult afternoon for the Clarets in the March clash.
Burnley: Peacock-Farrell, Roberts, Al-Dakhil, Beyer, Maatsen (Taylor 77), Cullen, Gudmundsson (Cork HT), Vitinho (Bastien 77), Tella (Obafemi 64), Zaroury, Foster (Barnes HT)
Manchester City: Ortega, Walkers, Dias (Akanji 63), Laporte, Rodri (Gomez 66), Lewis (Phillips 66), Mahrez, De Bruyne (Grealish 89), Alvarez, Foden, Haaland (Palmer 63)
