Pep Guardiola can turn to Burnley's nemesis on Saturday as Premier League run-in begins

With Manchester City’s margin for error in the Premier League title race close to nil, Pep Guardiola could turn to his master marksman on Saturday to continue his excellent record against Burnley.

The Blues will return from the final international break of the season with a short trip north to face Sean Dyche’s Clarets. Guardiola will be looking to kickstart some momentum ahead of a hectic April where they face Liverpool and Atletico Madrid twice.

City have an excellent record against Saturday’s opposition under the Catalan, only dropping points on one occasion in 2018 – when Danilo’s stunning opener was cancelled out by a Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson strike. In the reverse fixture this season, City were comfortable 2-0 winners at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of goals from Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.

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The meeting on Saturday is expected to be a lot tighter and it could be made even nervier by Liverpool going top of the Premier League table by the time City kick-off, with the Merseyside challengers hosting Watford earlier in the day. Guardiola will want a fast start and Riyad Mahrez could be key to that.

The Algerian has been in sensational form this season, netting 22 times in all competitions and displaying incredible amounts of quality. Burnley will be wary of facing their arch-rival when he’s in this mood.

In fact, the meeting between the sides at the start of the season was a very rare blank in front of goal for Mahrez against the Clarets. He did, however, still manage to assist De Bruyne for City’s second.

Ignoring that meeting, the winger has scored seven goals in just 259 minutes against Burnley for City, with