In Saturday’s late kick off, Burnley welcome the champions Manchester City to Turf Moor. Last time out against City, they came back from being two goals down at half time to draw 2-2 and take a point away from the Etihad.
Danny Ings was not one of the scorers in that game, but nonetheless remains the main threat for Burnley this weekend. Ings has scored nine goals so far this season and has the 14th most shots on target in the division, with 22, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Ings is 15/2 to score first on Saturday with 888sport.com.
It has been well documented by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index this season that George Boyd has covered a lot of ground, but some of his other defensive contributions may have gone unnoticed. Boyd has made the third greatest number of tackles in the entire division, with 90, which is five behind the league leader Nemanja Matic.
Jason Shackell has been in great form for the Clarets this season, as shown by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Shackell is top of the Premier League for number of clearances, racking up a total of 324 so far this season. In addition to this, Shackell is second in the league for number of blocks, with 35.
Manchester City now trail league leaders Chelsea by five points, having played a game more, however the reigning champions can put some pressure back on the leaders by cutting the deficit to two points, with Chelsea set to play on Sunday.
Wilfried Bony will be hoping he can provide the difference this weekend, with the January signing still yet to score since his move. It should, however, be just a matter of time before he gets off the mark, as the striker has one of the most impressive strike rates in the division. Bony has 29 shots on target, the eighth most in the league, which is 52.7% of his total shots. Bony scored nine goals in the Premier League prior to his City move and is 24/25 to break his duck this weekend with 888sport.com.
Gael Clichy is someone who could not only prove difficult to break down this weekend, but could also cause problems down the left hand side, as the left back has made the 13th highest number of sprints per game in the entire division. Clichy has completed 57.7 sprints per game this season, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
The man on the opposite side of the defence, Pablo Zabaleta is one of the most difficult defenders to beat in the Premier League. Zabaleta has won the second most tackles per game this season, exactly four successful tackles per game, which is just behind Lucas Leiva who has made 4.2 tackles per games, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Burnley vs Manchester City Lineups:
Burnley: Heaton; Trippier, Keane, Shackell, Mee; Kightly, Jones, Arfield, Boyd; Barnes, Ings
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Clichy; Silva, Fernando, Toure, Navas; Aguero, Bony