Manchester City kick off the 2023/24 Premier League season when the European champions face Burnley at Turf Moor on Friday night.
The Blues are aiming to win a fourth consecutive top-flight title this term, something which has never previously been achieved in the history of English football. As for Burnley, the aim for ‘23/24 is very much to retain their Premier League status for another season, after Vincent Kompany guided the Lancashire side to promotion from the Championship at the first time of asking.
Friday’s clash will be Kompany’s first Premier League game as a manager, although he did previously come up against Guardiola last season in the FA Cup, with an Erling Haaland hat-trick inspiring City to a 6-0 win.
The treble-winners would take that again, and Guardiola approaches the game with a fully fit squad. The Catalan confirmed in Thursday's press conference that Nathan Ake has recovered from a slight knock, while Josko Gvardiol could make his debut for the club against Burnley.
However, the defensive duo are not expected to start in the curtain raiser given a lack of match fitness and training in recent weeks. Kevin De Bruyne is in a similar boat, although he came off the bench in the second half of last week’s Community Shield loss to Arsenal. The Belgian has spent the majority of pre-season recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained in June’s Champions League final, and is not expected to be named in the starting XI against the Clarets.
With all that in mind, here’s how City could line up on Friday night…
1. GK: Ederson
Missed just one league game last season, prior to club winning the title, and will almost certainly start on Friday.
2. RB: Kyle Walker
Started last week against Arsenal and is expected to line-up at right-back once again.
3. CB: John Stones
Will push into midfield when City have the ball.
4. CB: Ruben Dias
Guardiola’s first-choice centre-back at present.