Man City must win to deny Liverpool the title for another week
Man City's reign as Premier League champions may have been extended by a few more days but a loss against Burnley will give Liverpool the chance to clinch the title on Wednesday against Crystal Palace.
Man City’s reign as Premier League champions may have been extended by a few more days, but defeat to Burnley will give Liverpool the chance to clinch the title on Wednesday against Crystal Palace.
Pep Guardiola’s side come into the match off the back of a comfortable win over Arsenal, defeating the Gunners 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Etihad.
It wasn’t quite the perfect evening for Pep, however, with 19-year old Eric Garcia leaving the pitch on a stretcher after an accidental collision with City goalkeeper Ederson.
Initially there were fears that Garcia had suffered a serious injury but after a trip to the hospital, where precautionary tests were completed, he was quickly released.
Great to start again with a win against Arsenal. Thanks for all the messages I’ve received. Now it’s time to rest and recover and hopefully I’ll be back soon💪💪. Gracias a todos por los mensajes. Hora de descansar y recuperarse💪 pic.twitter.com/LarElDhLpq
Fellow defender John Stones and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo are also unlikely to be available after picking up niggles ahead of the Arsenal game.
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It is unclear what role Leroy Sane will play in the squad, and indeed for the rest of season, after Pep confirmed that the German player had rejected numerous contract offers and would leave the club “this summer or at the end of his contract.”
The City manager admitted he was “disappointed” with Sane’s decision but said he had “nothing against him” and would “help him until the last day he is here”.
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Man City’s Monday night opponents Burnley have yet to play in the rebooted season and it couldn’t be a more difficult start for the Clarets, who currently sit 11th in the table.
Sean Dyche’s side have only beaten City once in the last 23 meetings between the clubs in all competitions and their last league away win to the blues was back in 1963.
The Clarets will have some confidence coming into the game though. They are seven games unbeaten in the league (W4, D3), which is their longest run in over a year.
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They may have trouble keeping that run going without forwards Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood, however, with the injured duo responsible for 18 of Burnley’s 34 goals in the league this season.
Dyche’s side will also be without winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson who has picked up a calf injury during training.
Man City v Burnley will kick off at 8pm on Monday the 22nd and will be shown on Sky Sports.
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Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Featured Image – Johnny Gios (via Unsplash)
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Manchester Storm game postponed just one week after AO Arena return due to ‘technical issue with the ice’
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Storm’s second game back at the AO Arena had to be postponed over the weekend due to a ‘technical issue with the ice’.
The ice hockey team made a record-breaking return to the venue earlier this month, attracting some 11,000 fans to watch their match against Sheffield Steelers.
But just one week later, as Manchester Storm prepared to face off against The Nottingham Panthers, the game had to be postponed.
Fans were already inside the legendary venue when a ‘technical issue with the ice’ became apparent and the game was called off.
Manchester Storm and the AO Arena said they ‘sincerely apologise’ to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption.
The game has now been rescheduled to Wednesday 14 October, with tickets valid for the new fixture.
The full statement read: “Unfortunately today’s Manchester Storm game vs The Nottingham Panthers has been suspended due to a technical issue with the ice.
“We sincerely apologise to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their patience.
Kate Jackson -
22nd June 2020 
