Without having a masterful season, Manchester City remains in the race to win the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup. For now, let’s focus on the domestic cup since the Citizens will play host to Burnley FC in the Quarterfinals this Saturday. As expected, Man City comes in as the soccer betting favorite, but keep in mind that the Clarets have already eliminated a team from the EPL.
Manchester City: Unstoppable
There are several ideal words to describe Erling Haaland, but unstoppable is the best for me. On Thursday, the 22-year-old striker scored five goals in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 17. The UCL is supposed to be the hardest tournament in the world, but Manchester City crushed RB Leipzig 7-0.
Haaland is the EPL’s top scorer with 28 goals. He alone has scored more goals than eight teams in total. He hasn’t scored in the FA Cup yet, but that will change eventually. Meanwhile, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez have scored three and two goals in the domestic cup.
The Citizens first eliminated Chelsea, crushing it 4-0. Later, they suffered a bit more but still eliminated Arsenal 1-0. Most recently, they had no trouble defeating Bristol City 3-0. Besides Foden and Mahrez, Julian Alvarez, Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne have also scored in the cup. Yes, Manchester City has the talent to spare.
That’s the main reason for Man City to be in control of the soccer odds. Because no matter who gets to play, the Citizens will always be a competitive side.
Burnley: No Fear
Burnley plays in the Championship, but there’s no doubt it’ll be in the EPL next season. The club currently sits atop the standings with a 13-point lead over the second place, having scored 74 goals and only conceded 29.
Burnley has eliminated Bournemouth, Ipswich Town, and Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup. The club was also the online gambling underdog against Bournemouth. Overall, it scored seven goals and conceded one. Nathan Tella, Anass Zaroury, and Benson Manuel scored two goals each.
Burnley defeated Hull City 3-1 on Wednesday, with Tella as Man of the Match after scoring a hat-trick. You can expect him to be highly motivated on Saturday. He’s one of the Championship’s top scorers with 17 goals.
Burnley has lost only one of its last 10 road games in all competitions and offers a +1400 price in the sportsbook to win straight up.
Manchester City vs Burnley Head-to-Head
- Previous Matches: 107
- Manchester City Victories: 53 (214 goals)
- Burnley Victories: 30 (134 goals)
- Draws: 24
Last season, these two met twice, right before Burnley was relegated to the Championship. Manchester City won the first match 2-0 at home, with Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne as the scorers. The Citizens repeated the dose in Burnley for the second meeting, with De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan as the scorers.
Here’s another reason for Burnley to come in as a huge betting online underdog: it hasn’t beaten the Citizens since the 2014-15 season.
Manchester City vs Burnley Match Information
- Match: Manchester City vs Burnley
- Date: Saturday, March 18th
- Time: 1:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
- Manchester City vs Burnley Live Stream: nbcsports.com
Manchester City vs Burnley Betting Lines
Manchester City vs Burnley Pick & Prediction
Forget about a stunner; Manchester City will advance to the Semifinals. Nevertheless, Burnley will put up a good fight, enough to contribute to the total to go over. After all, we’re talking about the top-scoring team in the EPL against the top-scoring team in the Championship. Finally, the over is offering a -120 price in the soccer lines, which means less risk.
Manchester City is listed at -550 in our Vegas Soccer lines. This means that if you wager $100 on Manchester City, you have a chance to win $18. The Burnley are +1400, offering a chance to win $1400 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives Manchester City an 84.62% chance to win, with Burnley at 6.67%.
