Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the FA Cup third round clash between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.
City come into this match unbeaten in their last 34 outings on English soil, and they have not lost in any competition here at the Etihad Stadium since December 2016.
Burnley have been the surprise package of the Premier League season so far, but defeat today would see them fall to back-to-back losses for the first time this term.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
Last night's all-Premier League clash between Liverpool and Everton provided plenty of drama, and hopefully we will see more of the same here as the division's dominant force takes on its surprise package in a meeting of arguably the two managers of the season so far.
We will take a closer look at both teams shortly, but first let's check out the team news...
Well, we usually expect changes in the cup competitions and today is no different, although both teams have still managed to field a team which would look too out of place in a Premier League games. City in particular look strong today, making only four changes from the side which beat Watford on Tuesday.
Gabriel Jesus remains sidelined after damaging his knee ligament injuries, of course, so Aguero is the standout choice to lead the line even in an FA Cup game like this, but it is a slight surprise that Guardiola hasn't taken the opportunity to rest Sterling and Sane.
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Fernandinho also retains his place in the midfield trio, with Kevin De Bruyne - himself a surprise starter in the Watford game after being stretchered off against Crystal Palace - dropping to the bench to make room for Ilkay Gundogan.
Elsewhere there are also starts for Danilo and Zinchenko on either side of the back four, although Kyle Walker does make the bench despite being seen limping at the end of the match with Watford. Stones and Otamendi retain their places at the heart of the defence with Kompany still out with a calf problem.
Even so, the relative lack of depth in his squad means that he is also only able to make four changes from the team which lost to Liverpool on New Year's Day.
Arfield is replaced in the starting lineup by Vokes, who is expected to lead the line with Barnes reverting to a deeper and wider role according to the teamsheet released by the club. Barnes will no doubt look to get in support of Vokes, but he may spend most of his time defending this afternoon.
He once again starts alongside Cork and Hendrick in the middle of the park this evening, with Westwood coming in for Defour the only personnel change made by Sean Dyche in that area of the field.
Ben Mee and Charlie Taylor both retain their places in the back four, and behind them is Nick Pope, whose performances this season have been so good that Tom Heaton may face a battle on his hands to get back into the team once he returns from injury.
The stats are scarcely believable; 62 points from a possible 66, a 15-point lead over second place, the top scorers in the division with 64 and also the best defence with only 13 conceded. It truly has been a masterclass from City so far this term.
There is, of course, a long way to go and one off day in one of these cup competitions could spoil the dream, but the Premier League title seems to be wrapped up, they have been drawn against Bristol City in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup and they remain among the favourites for the Champions League too.
It is shaping up to be an incredible campaign for Pep Guardiola's men.
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City are now unbeaten in their last 34 matches on English soil - including 28 this season - stretching back to their semi-final defeat at the hands of Arsenal in this competition back in April.
Guardiola's side have quickly picked up where they left off after that, though, winning seven and drawing one of their eight matches since. Indeed, throughout the entire season they have won a staggering 28 of their 31 outings across all competitions, drawing just two and losing that one.
City have won 14 matches in a row in front of their own fans, with Everton the only visiting team to avoid defeat at the hands of Guardiola's side here so far this season. City have scored 43 goals and conceded just eight during that 14-match streak too.
Their unbeaten record stretches back even further, though, with the Citizens going through all of 2017 without losing in front of their own fans, last doing so against Chelsea in December 2016, 31 matches ago.
Guardiola reached the semi-final of this competition last season, but their only home game along the way came against Huddersfield Town in a replay, which they won 5-1. City's run was eventually halted by Arsenal in the semi-finals, after extra time, but they thrashed West Ham 5-0 at this stage of the competition.
Today's hosts have also won eight of their last 11 FA Cup games against Premier League opposition, although the most recent of those was, of course, the semi-final defeat to Arsenal in last season's semi-finals.
Indeed, the only time Burnley have ever won this competition came way back in 1913-14, over a century ago, so there is a certain weight of history on their shoulders heading into this match.
Dyche's side have gone off the boil a little in recent weeks, but if you had offered their position to them at the start of this season, they would have snapped your hand off.
Many tipped the Clarets to once again be battling against relegation - and the team themselves will have been gearing up for it - but after only 22 games they are now only six points short of the magic 40-point mark and currently sit closer to second place than they do to the bottom three.
It is already their longest winless streak since April, when they had an eight-game wait for a win, and it follows a spell which saw them win six out of eight games, so it is quite an alarming dip in form.
Key to their success, as ever, has been their defensive organisation, with only the division's top three of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea having conceded fewer goals than Burnley this season.
Burnley were well beaten on that occasion, but they have generally fared well away to the big boys this season, beating Chelsea and Everton, and picking up draws at Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United.
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However, they have only won one of their last nine FA Cup away games and this is the 12th time in the last 16 seasons that they have been drawn away in the third round, winning only three of those.
Dyche's side reached the fifth round last season before being knocked out on Lincoln's memorable run, and they needed a replay to get past Sunderland at this stage.
FA Cup games are always more difficult to predict than normal matches, but Man City should still have enough to come through here. It is hard to back against Guardiola's side in any match at the moment, particularly at home, so we're going for a City win.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Man City 2-0 Burnley
Burnley have never won at this stadium, incidentally, and you have to go back to March 1963 for their last win away to Man City, losing nine and drawing six of their 15 visits since that 5-2 triumph 55 years ago.
There have been five draws in that time too, and you'd have to think that Sean Dyche would take another one of those today in order to earn a replay back at Turf Moor.
The most recent of those just so happened to come in the third round too, when Colin Hendry scored the only goal of the game for City in a 1-0 victory in 1991.
MAN CITY STARTING XI: Bravo; Danilo, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Aguero, Sane
BURNLEY STARTING XI: Pope; Lowton, Long, Mee, Taylor; Cork, Westwood, Gudmundsson, Hendrick, Barnes; Vokes
Pope hoofs the ball forward and Vokes flicks it on on the halfway line, but City look to have it under control as it arrives to Stones. However, the defender completely mis-kicks it and Barnes suddenly finds himself clean through on goal. He still has plenty to do, but he lashes a thunderous effort past Bravo at his near post!
2 - Ashley Barnes has netted two goals in his last three away games in all competitions (both in Manchester, at the Etihad and Old Trafford), after none in his previous nine this season on the road. Oasis.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 6, 2018
City have dominated possession as you would expect, but they have found clear chances very hard to come by. Burnley have defended really well, protecting Nick Pope, and they have also made the most of their chance when it came their way.
The Burnley striker still had plenty to do, but he made no mistake with a ferocious strike past Bravo at the near post - almost Geoff Hurst-esque. Keepers should generally not be beaten at their near post, but it was the power in the strike which beat him.
Gudmundsson's cross to the back post was nodded back across goal by Mee, with the ball flashing right across the six-yard box. Barnes was the closest to it, but he could not react in time to turn it home from close range.
The hosts' best openings have fallen to Sane, Zinchenko and Fernandinho, but none of them have been able to test Pope in the Burnley goal.
City win a free kick from deep and as Burnley are lining their defence up the hosts take it quickly. Gundogan's early ball is matched by the run of the sharp Aguero, who duly tucks it beyond Pope.
The same two players are involved again and it is a lovely piece of football as Aguero feeds a pass into the feet of Gundogan before continuing his run into the box. Gundogan bides his time before back-heeling it into the path of Aguero, who keeps his composure to take the ball around Pope and slide it into the empty net.
Sane gives the ball to Silva before continuing his run into the box, and the Spaniard of course produces a perfectly-weighted pass into the box. Sane takes it into his stride well, beating a last-ditch challenge from Mee before stroking his finish past Pope from a tight angle.
Sane dribbles past the goalkeeper on the left wing before cutting inside and unselfishly teeing up Bernardo Silva, who simply swept his finish into the empty net.
Ashley Barnes had earlier sent the Clarets into the break with the lead following a first half in which City failed to even have a shot on target, but they more than made up for lost time in the second half.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's FA Cup third round tie as Manchester City come from behind to progress at the expense of Burnley, helped on their way by a quickfire Aguero double. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
