Manchester City travel to Burnley on Tuesday night looking to keep their ailing title hopes alive following another setback on Saturday.
A 2-2 draw with Newcastle United leaves Pep Guardiola's side 11 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool after only 14 games, and another slip-up in midweek could be the final nail in their title defence.
Match preview
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Few would have predicted Man City being 11 points off the title pace going into December, and it is a position from which it would take a remarkable effort to recover.
Guardiola will no doubt take some degree of belief from last season, when dropped points away at Newcastle during the festive period again looked to have ended their title hopes, only to storm back from a seven-point deficit to pip Liverpool to the title.
However, there has been just one minor slip-up from Jurgen Klopp's side so far, and at the moment Man City look far more prone to dropping points than they have at any stage of the past two-and-a-half seasons.
Liverpool will undoubtedly be tested even more stringently over the coming month or so, when they will have to contend with a packed fixture schedule as well as the absences of Fabinho and the suspended Alisson Becker, but whether City are able to capitalise on any fallout from that remains to be seen.
It should be remembered that City have had to cope with key injuries of their own since the early stages of the season, although it is their failure to replace Vincent Kompany which has arguably proved most costly, despite Fernandinho doing an admirable job since moving to centre-back.
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The two goals shipped against Newcastle on Saturday made it seven games without a clean sheet across all competitions, while they have only won one of their last five outings - a run of form almost unheard of for a team that has been so dominant over the past two seasons.
Things do not get any easier in December either; City will play eight matches this month, with another on New Year's Day, and Tuesday's trip to Burnley is arguably one of the kindest of those on paper.
The derby against Manchester United looms on Saturday before away trips to Dinamo Zagreb and Arsenal, the latter of whom may well be under new leadership by the time they host the champions on December 15.
High-flying Leicester City provide Man City's final opponents before Christmas, and then they face an away game at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have already beaten them this season, and a home tie with high-flying Sheffield United in the space of two days.
To get through such a run without dropping any more points is a big ask, even for this Man City team, but Guardiola will know that any more slip-ups could prove fatal to their title defence.
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While Tuesday's match may be one of their kinder fixtures coming up, a trip to Turf Moor is never easy and Burnley have impressed enough to suggest that they can upset the big boys on their day this season.
The Clarets may have already lost to Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Chelsea this term, but they still sit in the top half of the table heading into a difficult week which sees Tottenham Hotspur next up after Man City.
Sean Dyche's side have struggled for consistency at times, though, following up back-to-back 3-0 victories with a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday - their fourth league defeat in their last six outings.
Burnley had only lost two of their opening eight games before that, and Dyche will know that they need to make themselves tougher to beat once again with so many teams tightly bunched in the middle of the table.
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Burnley did muster 15 shots in the defeat to Palace, though, and they will be confident of at least creating chances against a Man City side that has allowed far more regular shots on target this season than they did last.
After 13 games only the top four and Tottenham Hotspur had scored more goals than Burnley this season, and the physical threat of Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood will be a big test for City's centre-back pairing.
Four of their five wins this season have also come at Turf Moor, while only five teams have a better home record, and at the very least Dyche will expect a response from his side in front of their own fans following Saturday's disappointment.
Burnley form: LLLWWL
Man City Premier League form: WWWLWD
Man City form (all competitions): WDLWDD
Team News
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Man City are still without some key figures for this match, including all-time record goalscorer Sergio Aguero due to a thigh problem.
Long-term absentees Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte are not expected back until the new year, while this match is also likely to come too soon for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Nicolas Otamendi's more physical style could earn him the nod over John Stones to partner Fernandinho at the back, while there could be further rotation as Guardiola looks to keep his side fresh with one eye on the derby.
The likes of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo all sat out at the weekend and will be hopeful of a recall, with the former almost certain to start given Ilkay Gundogan's suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the season at Newcastle.
Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne could be among the players to keep their places having both been on the scoresheet at the weekend, while Gabriel Jesus is likely to lead the line once again in Aguero's absence.
Burnley, meanwhile, could be boosted by the returns of Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Matej Vydra, both of whom will undergo late fitness tests ahead of the match.
Ashley Westwood is available again after missing the Palace defeat through suspension and is expected to come straight back into the team in place of Robbie Brady, with Jeff Hendrick moving out wide.
Dyche is likely to be without Charlie Taylor, though, with the left-back being forced off after only 36 minutes of Saturday's match due to a hamstring injury.
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Wood, Barnes
Man City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Cancelo, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy; De Bruyne, Rodri, D Silva; Bernardo, Jesus, Sterling
Head To Head
Man City have dominated this fixture in recent years, losing just one of the last 22 meetings across all competitions including seven wins from the last eight.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Aguero score the only goal of the game in April as Burnley restricted the champions to just a 1-0 win, having lost 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium in both the league and FA Cup already that season.
Burnley's solitary Premier League triumph over Man City did come at home in March 2015, though, with George Boyd scoring the only goal of the game on that occasion.
We say: Burnley 1-2 Man City
There are plenty of reasons for Burnley to be optimistic ahead of this match despite their poor recent record against Man City, and it would not be a huge surprise to see them get something out of this game. Man City are in some of the worst form they have experienced over the past two-and-a-half seasons, but we are still backing them to pick up a much-needed victory.
Barney Corkhill
