- Man City face Burnley on Wednesday night
- Pep Guardiola’s team are strong favourites
- Micah Richards sounds warning
Manchester City will be expected to beat Burnley, but Micah Richards believes his former club still have a reason to feel wary.
The night has arrived which could see Manchester City move into the Premier League driving seat. All that is needed is a victory over Burnley, who sit in the relegation zone.
The Opta Supercomputer has predicted City to get the win, while Chris Sutton has gone even further, with expectations on an absolute thrashing.
However, as Antoine Semenyo has just said ahead of Man City’s match against the Clarets, the Premier League can be unpredictable.
Micah Richards warns Man City against complacency
Speaking ahead of City’s Premier League clash at Turf Moor, Micah Richards has reminded his old team not to make one big mistake.
It is essential that the Citizens do not show complacency and act like the game has already been won before a ball has been kicked.
"Man City can't be complacent"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 22, 2026
Micah Richards talks about the important of goal difference in the title race 🏆 pic.twitter.com/YLBoBokufC
“And it’s no disrespect to the teams in the league, but Burnley know probably that they’re not going to stay up,” Richards told Sky Sports.
“And you’re thinking, ‘can we get two or three today’? And then you’re going through all the fixtures thinking, if we could maybe just win that one 1-0, but give ourselves a good chance.
“It sounds disrespectful talking about teams like that, but Man City will believe they should be coming here and winning this four, five or six [nil], especially after that belief.”
He added: “I think the thing is for Man City now, they can’t be complacent. It is still in Arsenal’s hands. But Man City do what they do best, they do well under pressure, and that is the difference.”
Man City could use a big win
No matter what the result turns out to be, Manchester City will go top of the Premier League with a victory over Burnley.
However, their goal difference would only be level with Arsenal’s if the match were to finish 1-0, with both teams on the same points tally.
Therefore, it would be useful for City to win by multiple goals, in order to heap even more pressure on the struggling Gunners.
Still, Richards makes a good point. Winning the match is City’s priority first and foremost and Burnley will not have any desire to make things easy.
Rayan Ait-Nouri starts for Man City
Pep Guardiola has named his starting line-up for tonight’s clash against Burnley and Rayan Ait-Nouri has replaced Rodri.
The Spaniard has picked up a calf injury, meaning Nico O’Reilly has moved to midfield, while Ait-Nouri will play at left-back.
It is a big night for both players, as the Algerian will be looking to prove himself after some matches on the bench. O’Reilly will be just as keen to keep up his form, and he will relish the chance of getting forwards and adding to his ever-growing goal tally.
