Manchester City vs. Burnley: How the Citizens Should Line Up in EPL Game

Stevan Jovetic may be ready to return to action for Manchester City when they take on relegation-threatened Burnley this coming weekend.

But if City manager Manuel Pellegrini is as smart as he seems, Jovetic will not come anywhere near the pitch at the Etihad.

"Jovetic was on the bench today so maybe he will be fit for Sunday. We'll see," said Pellegrini according to David Lynch in the Manchester Evening News.

Asked to elaborate why Jovetic did not play at West Bromwich Albion, Pellegrini noted that "it wasn't important for him to play and the pitch was difficult for a muscle injury."

On that logic, Jovetic should not be risked against Burnley, either.

City played the Baggies at The Hawthorns without a striker and took a 3-0 lead to the changing room. West Brom are not much better than Burnley, but they are better and the Midlands club was at home.

Burnley are traveling to Manchester shortly after losing to struggling Liverpool at Turf Moor. Burnley do not have half the squad depth or a tenth of the talent that City have, and they have to play City with only a day's rest from the loss to Liverpool.

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Meanwhile, City have played without a recognized striker for about 200 minutes in their past two matches. They have scored six times in those tilts, and but for a scuffy Brown Ideye goal in the 87th minute against West Brom, City would be rolling with two clean sheets into this match with Burnley.

The only competent argument for risking a half-gimpy Jovetic against this tattered Burnley squad is that three of City's last five goals have come from midfielder David Silva, who was removed after 63 minutes against West Brom.

Silva may or may not be risked against Burnley with yet another match set for New Year's Day.

For that matter, Silva also created Yaya Toure's spot kick against West Brom. "Silva nipped in and Lescott’s challenge brought down the Spaniard just inside the area. Toure ran up and belted his penalty into the corner," wrote Laurie Whitwell for the Daily Mail.

So that is two-thirds of City's striker-less output tied up in one diminutive midfielder. You know what, you're right, Silva will almost certainly start against Burnley.

And when he does, it should make Pellegrini's decision to give Jovetic and his fellow ailing strikers another few days' rest that much easier.

City are manhandling weak opponents without Jovetic, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko. When Aguero and Dzeko are healthy, their histories with City and their scoring records compel their inclusion.

Not so with Jovetic, whose time at City is best characterized as scarce bits of brilliance among weeks and months of convalescent inactivity.

Put another way, what Pellegrini has working right now is not broken so there is no point in fixing it by putting Jovetic in the XI.

City's projected XI against Burnley: Joe Hart; Aleksandar Kolarov, Eliaquim Mangala, Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta; David Silva, Fernandinho, Fernando, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas; James Milner.