Lancashire

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After 34 Premier League games, and four games remaining, Burnley's fate has been sealed in the 1-0defeat to Manchester City as they return to the Championship.

Former Burnley winger, Glen Little told BBC Sport that Burnley fans "were a bit spoilt" during Sean Dyche's era at the club and that the Clarets "overachieved" during Dyche's nine-year and five-month tenure.

"It might not have been sort of the best football to watch, the modern-day football that we see now, but it was effective at staying in the Premier League, but once Dyche left, we came down," said Little.

"When Vincent Kompany came in, he totally changed the style of football, the way we played, and we had a great season in the Championship, one of the best Championship teams we've ever seen."

After being relegated from the Premier League with Burnley in 2024, Kompany was appointed by German side, Bayern Munich.

Little added it was a "mess" when Scott Parker took over from Kompany, but the club "regrouped" and secured 100 points to return to the top-flight.

"It'll be interesting to see what happens with Scott Parker now. Will he decide to stay on and try and get us straight back up? We've seen him do it with Bournemouth, Fulham and also Burnley," said Little.

Although Burnley have yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship in the past five seasons, Little believes "if we keep most of the players, I think we'll be straight back up again."

Burnley boss Scott Parker, speaking to BBC Match of the Day after his team's relegation: "Overall, I think the performance tonight speaks volumes of us as a group. The inevitable was there, but I am proud of the players, we just fell a bit short. Playing against Manchester City, you're going to have few opportunities - in fact we probably had quite a few. Overall a brilliant performance and for that I am immensely proud.

"I thought the stadium was brilliant tonight. It has been mixed at certain moments and I get the frustration, but we left everything on the pitch tonight. I said that to the group tonight; the paying spectators want to see that, and we did that to a tee."

On the future: "The club has had to [bounce back] over the last few years. There is a lot of learning to do and that is exactly what we'll do. We'll reflect on where we've fallen short. We need to work out where we've gone wrong and come back stronger next year."

If the club want to keep you, will you stay?: "It's been a relentless season for everyone, me included. We [he and the board] will sit down and reflect, work out where we move forward and go from there."

Burnley defender Kyle Walker, speaking to Sky Sports after the club's relegation: "It was a disappointing evening. I am a player for Burnley and I will do my best for the shirt to make sure we get a result. Unfortunately, now we are relegated, but we need to play the remaining games with that level of performance.

"What this club means to this town is incredible. I drive through it every day. It means a lot to them. From us to them, thank you for every bit of support this season, and hopefully we can do you proud next season.

"I came here with a dream to keep this club up. I achieved a lot personally, but this would have been right up there. It would have been very special to keep this club up.

"This is people's dreams that have now come to an end in the Premier League. They need to use this fire to make sure we are back here next season."

Did you know?

• Burnley have been relegated from the Premier League for the fifth time, only Norwich City (6) have ever dropped out of the competition more often.

• Burnley have lost four consecutive Premier League games for the second time this season (a run of 7 between November and December), losing their 22nd match of the campaign – having lost 24 games in both 2023-24 and 2009-10, only West Bromwich Albion have lost 22+ games in more Premier League seasons (4).

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire following their 2-1 defeat at Birmingham.

"I have a couple of big frustrations. The goals from our point of view, and then the fact we couldn't take one of the opportunities to get something from the game," he said.

"We started brightly and the two goals were really poor. That 10 minutes knocked us but we responded and regrouped, scored the next goal and got better and better as the game went on.

"Birmingham changed and went more man for man against us, but in the second half we had chances to deal with that. I am disappointed because we were on the front foot, much more aggressive, and created more than enough. That was another frustration.

"Away from home in the Championship is always tough, but we have played worse than that and won games. I felt the game was there for us. We were OK in the first half – even taking the goals out of it – but I've said many times I want to make that shift and get on top away from home and play with a bravery."

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

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One year and one day ago, Burnley beat Sheffield United to celebrate automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

But that delight turned to despair as their long expected relegation was confirmed against Manchester City, lying 13 points adrift of 17th-placed West Ham with only four games left to play.

Captain Kyle Walker enjoyed lifting 17 trophies while at City but his spell at Burnley has been a miserable one, as the full-back and his team-mates bowed out with a whimper.

Boss Scott Parker has guided his side to just four wins all season, with just one of those coming in their past 25 league games - dating back to the start of November.

The Englishman's own record against City is dismal, losing all six meetings, while his Burnley side have now suffered defeat in 12 consecutive games against them.

Parker is a specialist at taking teams up to the Premier League, having done so three times during his managerial career, but it remains to be seen whether he will be given the opportunity to do so again next season.

Burnley have been relegated to the Championship after defeat against Manchester City.

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Burnley make three changes from the side that were beaten 4-1 at Nottingham Forest last time out.

Bashir Humphreys, Loum Tchaouna and Josh Laurent come in for Florentino, Marcus Edwards and Lesley Ugochukwu, who all drop to the bench.

Former Manchester City captain Kyle Walkers takes the armband for the Clarets against his old side.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Esteve, Ekdal, Humphreys, Hartman, Tchaouna, Ward-Prowse, Laurent, Anthony, Flemming.

Subs: Weiss, Broja, Edwards, Foster, Florentino, Lucas Pires, Tresor, Ugochukwu, Worrall,

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola makes just one change following their monumental win over Arsenal on Sunday.

Rodri fails to recover from a groin injury suffered in that game, so Rayan Ait-Nouri comes in at left-back.

It means Nico O'Reilly is shifted further up the pitch in more familiar territory.

Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri, Silva, O'Reilly, Semenyo, Doku, Cherki, Haaland.

Subs: Trafford, Ake, Foden, Gonzalez, Kovacic, Marmoush, Savinho, Reijnders, Stones.

I completely understood Manchester City's celebrations at full-time on Sunday.

Arsenal are their main rivals, there is a lot of needle between the two sides - like Erling Haaland and Gabriel for example - and they had just beaten them in a must-win game in the title race.

Now Pep Guardiola's side will be fully focused on getting the win they need here - and I don't just think City will win at Burnley, I think they will win well.

I know the Clarets went ahead against Nottingham Forest on Sunday but they ended up losing that one heavily.

I can see a similar scoreline here. You just feel like City's tails will be up - they have got some tough games ahead, but this should be comfortable for them.

Burnley will battle and they will give it a go but with what is at stake for City, and the quality they have in the final third, I am thinking they can boost their goal difference as well as collecting the three points.

Sutton's prediction: 0-4

Read the full predictions and have your say

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City visit Turf Moor on Wednesday seeking a win that would take them to the top of the Premier League table - a result that would also relegate Burnley.

The omens are not good. Burnley have won just one of their 19 Premier League games against City and have lost the past 11, which is their longest-ever losing league run against another team.

Scott Parker's side are also winless in their past 12 home Premier League matches, the club's second-worst run without winning at Turf Moor in their league history.

And they come into this match on the back of a 4-1 capitulation at fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest. Head coach Parker said the boos from Burnley supporters at the City Ground were justified, admitting that they "saw a team just fall away".

That was Burnley's second-heaviest defeat of the season - topped only by the 5-1 thumping by City at Etihad Stadium in September. It could be another long 90 minutes for Clarets fans.

Before City visited West Ham on 14 March, Pep Guardiola said his side's title hopes would be over if they dropped points. When they did just that in a 1-1 draw, it meant City were nine points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal, with one game in hand.

If City win at Burnley, they will take over at the top of the Premier League with both they and Arsenal having just five matches left to play.

It has been a fascinating and thrilling title run-in and there will surely be a few more twists yet before the Premier League season concludes on 24 May.

But City's win over Arsenal on Sunday suggests Guardiola has got his team going at just the right time and when it really matters, something he has made a habit of.

Since Mikel Arteta's first league game in charge of Arsenal in 2019, the Gunners have been top for 539 days to City's 453. Yet in that time, City have collected four Premier League titles while Arsenal have won none.

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On 21 April 2025, Scott Parker's Burnley confirmed their promotion back to the Premier League with a 2-1 victory against Sheffield United at Turf Moor.

One year and one day on, Parker's Clarets are on the brink of a return to the Championship.

They have taken only 20 points from their first 33 games and a loss to Manchester City on Wednesday would confirm their relegation back into the second tier.

The statistics of previous meetings between the two do not make good reading for Burnley followers.

They have won just one of their 19 Premier League games against City (drawn three, lost 15) and to add to the Clarets' woes, they have lost their past 11 in a row against City - their longest ever losing run against an opponent in their league history.

As a manager, Parker has lost all five of his Premier League matches against City by an aggregate score of 16-1.

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Burnley boss Scott Parker has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Premier League game against Manchester City at Turf Moor (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Parker confirmed Wednesday's game will come "too early" for Hannibal Mejbri and Connor Roberts, but "everyone else is fully fit".

• Reflecting on Sunday's 4-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest: "A really disappointing result and final part to that game as well. A lot of reflection and, as always when you the results we have, it brings a certain dampness to the training facility. We rebooted well today and we're looking in a good place. In terms of the mental and psychological side of the group, today was bright."

• Parker was asked whether the fact a defeat by City would confirm the Clarets' relegation could impact their approach: "Regarding the outcome and the situation of what it can mean is one the players have been facing for some time. Having an understanding of where we are and searching for something - I don't think that's a big player in terms of us. That has been a challenge over the last few months because we haven't managed to pick up results. That burden has been on our shoulders for a long time now. That's where we are."

• What does he want and need to see from the players between now and the end of the season? "It comes down to what the players want as individuals. From my side, as always the driver will be that there are certain things you can control. There are certain traits and habits you can control. Not getting a result or the outcome of a performance sometimes you can accept when you fall a little bit short due to many reasons, but one thing you can never fall short on is what you are in control of. That has to be a mainstay and that will be the message."

• On whether he can take motivation from having an impact on the title race: "I don't think so. The main thing is to have an effect on us and what we do. That challenge is there for us and is an incredible challenge. We did what we did last year to have this challenge. We are going up against the elite of the elite - that's a challenge we should be relishing."

• On dealing with booing from supporters: "As a man I would say I am pretty fair. At the weekend I totally understand and totally deserved it because of the confusion our fans must have had was a confusion that I had as well. That frustration and the pure not understanding of it is what lives with us all, so I totally understand the booing. There have been other occasions when I have had absolutely no idea why that [booing] has been the case. There has been unrest and booing in the past that I don't really get."

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