Sergio Aguero stars for a nearly full-strength Manchester City, while a much-changed Chelsea are held goalless by Norwich.
Three other Premier League teams will have to try again in replays as the FA Cup produces mixed results – and one sacking – on a busy Saturday of action.
For a manager who had gone very public with his claims that the Premier League’s packed Christmas schedule was ‘killing’ his players, Pep Guardiola showed them little FA Cup mercy.
The side he selected against Burnley was packed with regular starters, with only Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne and the fit-again Kyle Walker handed a rest.
Even then, the latter two were brought on in the second-half as City recovered from a 1-0 deficit, courtesy of an Ashley Barnes strike, with four unanswered goals after the break.
Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva were on the scoresheet, but the recovery owed much to Sergio Aguero.
The Argentine scored twice on what was his seventh straight start in all competitions – his longest unbroken run in the team all season.
An injury to Gabriel Jesus is likely to keep that run going for at least another 3-5 weeks, which will be music to the ears of his 22.2% Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ownership.
Post-match, even Guardiola himself was talking up his forward’s need to play.
“I have to say it is an honour to have Sergio under my command. He is the kind of player who always wants to play, so I can understand that sometimes he is sad when he doesn’t play, but I want him to be happy.”
In his pre-match press conference, Guardiola had also backed Aguero to take on the workload demands of being his only fit striker.
“We need Gabriel, we need Sergio, we need both. We’ll have maybe two months without Gabriel. Two months is a lot of games, so we just have one.
He [Aguero] was banned two or three times [under me], because he’s so aggressive without the ball and after that he was always good, always fit. So hopefully we can handle it until the end, because of course we need the striker’s goals.
We have other options, not like a striker, but guys with mentality to be around the box who can solve that problem.”
FPL managers will be far happier if Aguero is rested for the first leg of City’s EFL Cup semi-final against Bristol City in midweek ahead of a league schedule (liv NEW WBA bur LEI) offering plenty of potential for their man to add to his 111 points for the season.
But trying to anticipate Guardiola’s rotation decisions remains close to impossible. He kept bit-part players Yaya Toure, Eliaquim Mangala and Brahim Diaz on the bench throughout yesterday’s tie while starting Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones and introducing goalscorer Silva – a starter just four times since Gameweek 10 – after 79 minutes.
Meanwhile, David Silva, back from his latest trip to Spain following the premature birth of his son, and even Raheem Sterling, who has started 11 of the last 12 matches in the league, played the full 90 minutes against the Clarets.
The 37.0%-owned Sterling, just like the rest of City’s stars, will likely get a further break in January, with the Champions League to be factored in again from the middle of next month.
That hasn’t stopped FPL managers making Sterling and Aguero the fourth and fifth most purchased players respectively ahead of Gameweek 23.
Tuesday’s EFL Cup teamsheet looks crucial with the two-legged semi-final surely the most likely hot-spot for rotation of Guardiola’s key attacking assets over this period.
Change costs Chelsea
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was considerably more willing to use the FA Cup to shuffle his resources.
He made nine changes for the tie at Norwich City, with only Gary Cahill and Tiemoue Bakayoko retaining their places from the midweek draw at Arsenal.
Unfortunately, another stalemate was the result, which means a replay at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, January 16, between Gameweeks 23 (Leicester City (h)) and 24 (Brighton (a).
Chelsea also have an EFL Cup semi-final first leg tie with Arsenal this Wednesday, so the fixtures are piling up for the Blues.
At least key Fantasy assets such as Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso didn’t even travel to Norwich. Neither did Eden Hazard, who is nursing a minor injury, though the 17.5%-owned Alvaro Morata was in the squad and came on after 74 minutes, to no avail.
Meanwhile, David Luiz return to fitness may cause Andreas Christensen owners some concern, though the Brazilian’s unconvincing performance at Carrow Road, amid continued speculation on his future, should offer reassurance. The replay would also make it very likely that Christensen will start both league matches, with Luiz set to be given a second outing against Norwich.
Extra fixtures for trio
Three other Premier League sides also face replays.
Leicester City drew 0-0 at Fleetwood Town, with injury denying Jamie Vardy a return to his footballing roots, although defender Ben Chilwell was fit to start after a two-match absence.
The sides will now play again on the Tuesday between the Foxes’ January 13 trip to Chelsea and a home match with Watford.
Swansea City were also held goalless, by Wolves, in a tie in which Renato Sanches picked up a hamstring injury and Leroy Fer was sent off.
The midfielder will now miss three matches – the Tuesday replay sandwiched between Newcastle away and a visit from Liverpool.
Bournemouth had to come back from two goals down to earn their second chance against Wigan.
Lys Mousset and Steve Cook, in the 93rd minute, got the goals, with the Wednesday, January 17 replay coming between a visit from Arsenal and a trip to West Ham for the Cherries.
Elsewhere…
Huddersfield’s 2-1 win at Bolton came at a price, as the 6.1%-owned striker Collin Quaner limped off with a hamstring problem.
Head coach David Wagner is optimistic that the setback for his compatriot was not a major concern…
“Quaner felt his hamstring but I think we have caught it soon enough for it not to be a problem”
The winger’s replacement, Rajiv van la Parra, opened the scoring before Danny Williams added a second within a minute.
The Terriers were much-changed for the tie, although Laurent Depoitre (7.3%) also started and defender Terence Kongolo, on loan from Monaco, was impressive on his debut.
Watford saw off Bristol City 3-0, with Troy Deeney scoring on his return from a four-match ban.
Etienne Capoue and Andre Carillo were also on the scoresheet – the latter now has either a goal or an assist from his last three starts in all competitions.
Midfielder Richarlison, at 15.7% the most popular Watford player in FPL, was rested, although he did come on after 69 minutes.
Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino made just two changes to the side that lost to Crystal Palace as the Saints beat Fulham 1-0.
James Ward-Prowse’s first-half goal was enough to see Southampton progress.
Alan Pardew finally got his first victory as West Brom manager with a 2-0 win at Exeter.
Salomon Rondon and Jay Rodriguez scored the goals, but Kieran Gibbs picked up a knock that makes him an early doubt for next weekend’s home match against Brighton.
Newcastle breezed past Luton 3-1, with two goals for Ayoze Perez and one from Jonjo Shelvey.
However, defender Jamaal Lascelles (5.8%) lasted just 31 minutes of the tie before going off with a groin injury, though reports state that he is confident to be in contention for Saturday’s visit from Swansea City.
Mark Hughes’ final match in charge at Stoke City was a shock 2-1 defeat by Coventry City.
He was sacked after the upset, with a Charlie Adam penalty not enough to save either the tie or his job.
