But Sean Dyche’s side bounced back from their relegation from the top flight in fine style, claiming the Championship by four points from Middlesbrough to earn another crack at the big boys.
Let’s take a look back at some memorable encounters between the two clubs, separated by just 29 miles, who are set to meet at Turf Moor on 26 November.
The Last Time
Burnley 1-0 City 14/3/15
City’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title were dealt a fierce blow when Dyche’s relegation-threatened outfit snatched a narrow win in March 2015.
Vincent Kompany nodded away a free kick from City Academy graduate Kieran Tripper just after the hour, but George Boyd latched onto it to lash the ball past Joe Hart for the only goal of the game.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side were well below par and struggled to break down their resilient hosts, who claimed their first win over City since 1974.
One To Remember
Burnley 1-6 3/4/2010
Roberto Mancini’s Blues blew Burnley away at a rain-lashed Turf Moor thanks to an astonishing three-goal burst in the opening seven minutes.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez struck to threaten humiliation for Burnley, leaving your flustered mcfc.co.uk correspondent shouting, “Stop! I can’t update the website that fast!”
City were 5-0 up at the break, when the torrential downpour looked threatening enough to have the game called off.
In fact it got so bad for Clarets midfielder Kevin McDonald that, after being replaced at the break, he headed for the pub rather than watch the rest of the match, copping a fine in the process.
One To Forget
City 3-3 Burnley 7/11/2009
It had been a different story for both McDonald and the two sides earlier that same season.
Burnley had taken a shock 2-0 lead in the first half, but goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Toure and Bellamy had turned things around for Mark Hughes’ City side.
But McDonald struck late on to ensure a draw, one of a run of stalemates that had a hand in Hughes’ departure a few weeks later.
One We Both Love
There have been a number of players to grace both the sky blue of City and the claret of Burnley. Indeed, their Championship winners boasted Joey Barton and City’s 2008 FA Youth Cup-winning captain Ben Mee.
Only Mee remains, with Barton having moved to Rangers, but perhaps the most notable player to feature for both is none other than Club Ambassador Mike Summerbee.
Mike swapped Maine Road for Turf Moor in 1975, joining Jimmy Adamson’s side for £25,000. Unfortunately for both Mike and Burnley, his first season ended in relegation from Division One and after two years and 61 appearances injury brought his time in east Lancashire to an end.
