- Manchester City face Burnley on Wednesday
- Three key individual battles stand out
- Previous result: 5-1 Manchester City
Despite the gulf in class between both sides, Manchester City could face a few challenging battles in their upcoming clash against Burnley at Turf Moor.
The last time both sides went toe-to-toe with each other at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s side won 5-1.
However, on Wednesday, Scott Parker’s side will likely do everything in their power to get a result as a defeat would send them down to the EFL Championship.
Pep Guardiola urged his players to focus ahead of the contest as dropped points for City could dent their hopes of winning the Premier League title.
For Manchester City to get over the line against Burnley, they may have to reign supreme in three key battles on the pitch in particular.
READ MORE: How to watch Burnley vs Man City: TV channel, preview and score prediction
Jeremy Doku vs Kyle Walker
Jeremy Doku’s impressive display against Arsenal could be a worry for Kyle Walker as the last time the pair face each other, the Belgian ran the decorated right-back ragged.
The former Rennes winger danced past the Englishman for fun, creating panic in and around Burnley’s box as his attempted shot on goal eventually led to Maxime Esteve’s first own goal of the clash.
Doku also set up Erling Haaland’s first goal of the game and all in all, Walker could not tame the in-form trickster. So much so that the six-time Premier League winner named the 23-year-old as his toughest opponent since his move to Burnley.
Walker told The Overlap: “I used to mark him [at Manchester City] and I know why Pep used to do it because he used to put him against me everyday to make my training a lot harder and he was the one player I seriously couldn’t get the better of.”
“He’s strong, low centre of gravity, he’s quick, obviously 10, 20 yards, he’s very quick. But as a defender, I’m reacting to your movement. So, you’re the winger, I’m reacting to you, I don’t know what you’re going to do. I can have a certain pattern of what you’re going to do.”
“But he would do this jump. It threw you so off with the jump because I just don’t what you’re going to do now. And he’d do certain movements like the step…if you [Gary Neville] can ever do a one-v-one and he can show you these movements, you’d be blown away and it’s so quick!”
Judging by Walker’s response and Doku’s electric form throughout the season, it seems likely that the Manchester City winger giving the veteran another taxing outing.
Zian Flemming vs Abdukodir Khusanov
Zian Flemming is a player who City’s defence will have to be wary of, keeping in mind that the Dutchman has scored an impressive tally of nine league goals this season.
While Abdukodir Khusanov has been terrific since replacing the injured Ruben Dias, the Uzbek centre-back could be put to the test by Flemming. The same goes for Marc Guehi but at the end of the day, the experienced centre-back is far more accustomed to battling imposing strikers than the 22-year-old.
Khusanov is a world-class young prospect but one potential shortcoming in his game is in the air.
| Zian Flemming: 2025/2026 season | |
| Goal types in all competitions this season | Goals |
| Header | 3 |
| Penalty | 2 |
| Right-footed | 2 |
| Left-footed | 3 |
With Flemming being an aerial threat and scoring three headers for Burnley this campaign, the City defender will have to be at his brilliant best to keep the centre-forward quiet.
Based on Khusanov’s tremendous track record of dominating top-class forwards, it would take a brave man to bet against him on Wednesday.
Rayan Cherki vs Florentino Luis
Rayan Cherki starred against Arsenal as he scored a stunning solo in Manchester City’s latest 2-1 win and as things stand, he could be the most in-form player in English football.
The Frenchman was unavailable the last time City locked horns with Burnley and as a result, the hosts will get their first taste of playing against the silky attacker. The Clarets’ number six, Florentino Luis will mostly have to go toe-to-toe against Cherki.
While Luis was not at fault for another attacking midfielder in Morgan Gibbs-White’s three goals on the weekend, ultimately Burnley could not lay a glove on him.
If the Brazilian and his Burnley side could not contain Gibbs-White, they are likely to have an even taller task of trying to stop Cherki in his tracks, who is in even better touch than the Englishman currently.
