Man City predicted XI vs Burnley: major Erling Haaland starting call made as Guardiola forced into changes

Manchester City head into this weekend’s fixture against Burnley at the Etihad (15:00 BST) following an impressive September which has seen three victories and a draw in all competitions.

Alarm bells were sounding when the Cityzens went down to two consecutive Premier League defeats in August, the international break acting as a welcome pause and an opportunity to turn things around.

Victories against Manchester United in the derby and Napoli in the Champions League were almost followed up by the perfect pragmatic away performance at Arsenal, but for Gabriel Martinelli’s 93rd minute equaliser. Nevertheless, a 2-0 victory at Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup took City’s total to eight goals scored and just one conceded in September.

Scott Parker’s newly-promoted Clarets are next up. They have put in spirited performances against the likes of United and Liverpool thus far but Pep Guardiola’s side will understandably be firm favourites to win comfortably.

Will Erling Haaland be fit to start against Burnley?

Erling Haaland has begun the season in unstoppable goal-scoring form and looks set to return to the starting line-up at the Etihad after sitting out the Carabao Cup tie in midweek. The Norwegian came off late on against Arsenal amidst reports of a minor back issue, which is not expected to impact his involvement this weekend.

Haaland has already scored 13 goals in eight matches for club and country this season and leads the way in the Premier League goal-scoring charts with six. He will no doubt relish the opportunity to add to his total this weekend.

Strike partner Omar Marmoush remains on the sidelines with a knee injury he sustained on international duty with Egypt. He is reportedly targeting a return to action next month, potentially after the next international break. Several other City stars remain on the sidelines and will not be available to Pep Guardiola against Burnley.

Abdukodir Khusanov fresh injury update as Guardiola set to make changes

City’s right-back issue appeared to be solved in recent weeks by the emergence of Abdukodir Khusanov in the position, until the 21-year-old was withdrawn at half-time against Arsenal with an ankle injury. Guardiola has since revealed that Khusanov is set to miss at least three games. Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes will both hope to get the nod to replace him, with Nico O’Reilly likely to return at left-back.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki also remain out and are unlikely to feature before late October, while Mateo Kovacic has also been out since the end of last season with an Achilles injury and remains on the sidelines.

Guardiola named a changed side in midweek and gave several key players a rest for the trip to Huddersfield. The Catalan is expected to name his strongest side available for the weekend’s fixture, knowing how important it is for his side to rise up the league table quickly. This is despite a Champions League tie against Monaco being on the horizon next week.

With several key first-team names out injured he has appeared to stick to a trusted starting line-up in recent fixtures, with a return for the majority of the side which started at the Emirates likely. He may then opt to ring the changes in the second half, if the game is won.

Man City full predicted starting line-up vs Burnley (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri; Silva, Foden, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland.