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City of Manchester Stadium
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Kick-off: 3pm

After all of their off-season summer spending, Mark Hughes’ Manchester City should now be settled into a team with an identity. The Blue side of Manchester are sitting in fourth place in the league, and after a promising start to the campaign, they hit a vein of form which saw them strike the silver of drawing matches. City are eight points leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, and that is a marked improvement over past seasons, where they have been left a long way behind in the dust of Manchester United. The overwhelming balance is shifting for sure, but having drawn nearly as many games as they have won, is the fine line between pushing for the title and simply trying to break into the top four. A run of four league draws is something which is not good enough for a top team, and it will be making the expectant fans at the City of Manchester Stadium, a little edgy and impatient.

At the moment, City are definitely at the latter stage of their learning curve, and they would have silenced a lot more critics if those draws had been turned into victories. Still, they are on the verge of becoming a really good, consistent and strong side, which has only lost once in the Premier League all season, which is more than can be said to Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea above them, who have all lost two games each. Saturday’s fixture for the light blues, should be one that they should close out with a little flair and conviction in their own abilities. With the England game coming up on November 14th, Mark Hughes will want to go into the Premier League break on a strong note.

Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor who have been suffering from injury woes, are likely to be back for the starting eleven, and they are key in pushing Manchester City forward. Adebayor is a strong presence up front, and is going to be the main source of goals for them. Hughes will be welcoming the short international break, as it will give time for Robinho to get fully fit and finally starting earning his salary this season. Even with the break for the World Cup qualifying play-offs, and the England v Brazil friendly, Manchester City have an away friendly fixture against the United Arab Emirates pencilled in for Wednesday.

Saturday’s opponents Burnley have been struggling to pick points up the road, and they have left empty handed on all of their five away matches. Although having pretty much a full squad to choose from, it will be an uphill struggle to go to Eastlands and take points from a City defence, which is proving to be strong and positive in handling opposition. City do have a couple of injury concerns, notably that of Roque Santa Cruz and of Wayne Bridge, but they should be bolstered enough by Adebayor’s return, in linking up with Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez up front, to bully their way past the Burnley defence which has conceded 17 goals on their travels.

Manchester City to win: 7/19 at Coral
Draw: 4/1 at Paddy Power
Burnley to win: 10/1 at Bet365

Betting Advice: City still have not figured out the way to score as many goals as they would like, despite being quite an offensive side. This could be a good game to express themselves, and see how expansive they can be. They should have more than enough quality to completely overrun opposition like Burnley, and they probably will.
Manchester City to win 3-0: 8/1 at 888Sport