U21S PREVIEW: MANCHESTER CITY V BURNLEY

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New year starts with trip to Manchester

2026-01-08T16:00:00.000Z

U21S PREVIEW: MANCHESTER CITY V BURNLEY

New year starts with trip to Manchester

2026-01-08T16:00:00.000Z

New year starts with trip to Manchester

Burnley U21s’ first game of 2026 sees them make the short trip to Manchester City’s Joie Stadium in Premier League 2 on Friday night (7pm KO).

The young Clarets finished the last calendar year with a 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League Cup and will be keen to build some momentum heading into a busy period.

Andy Farrell’s side had a false restart to this year’s schedule earlier this week, with the Premier League Cup trip to Stockport County being postponed due to the cold weather.

By the time kick-off comes around on Friday night it will have been exactly three weeks since that trip to London, in which Jaydon Banel’s penalty was the difference between the two teams.

Burnley are currently 26th in the 29-team table having claimed six points from their nine matches to date, courtesy of victories over Liverpool and Norwich City.

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Manchester City are 13 places better off in the standings having claimed two more victories from the same number of outings.

The Cityzens finished 2025 on a high by going unbeaten in five in all competitions, three of which were victories.

It was one a piece when they faced Real Madrid in their last outing before Christmas. After Cesar Palacios opened the scoring for the Spaniards, Emilio Lawrence earned a Premier League International Cup point.

City’s last PL2 fixture was a 2-1 victory on the road at Sunderland, where Lawrence and Justin Oboavwoduo were on target.

Head Coach Ben Wilkinson, who is the son of former Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United boss Howard, has been at City since 2016.

After a hugely successful spell with the U18s in which they became the first ever team to win consecutive titles, he took charge of the EDS ahead of the 2024/25 season.

U21S PREVIEW: MANCHESTER CITY V BURNLEY - Image 2

Supporters are welcome to get behind the young Clarets in person at Joie Stadium (M11 4TQ) and tickets can be purchased online HERE.

Adults are priced at £3, while over 65s, 18-21 year olds and under 18s are all £1.

Alternatively, you can follow live updates on X @ClaretsAcademy and Instagram @Burnleyfcacademyofficial, as well as reading our match report on www.burnleyfootballclub.com after the final whistle.