Vincent Kompany does not believe his Burnley side might have an advantage over a Manchester City side which might not yet be firing on full cylinders as he expects the very best from both his old and current teams this evening.
City legend Kompany is in charge of the Clarets and will welcome his former team to Turf Moor for the Premier League curtain raiser. Kompany led Burnley back to the Premier League last season, winning the Championship in his first season in charge.
Treble winners City will make the short trip to Burnley as heavy favourites to come out on top against a newly promoted team. That is despite Pep Guardiola’s side not yet being at optimal fitness levels.
But Kompany does not believe the Clarets will have any potential mental or physical advantage against his old side as he outlined the mentality Guardiola has instilled at City which he has seen signs of at Turf Moor now. He hopes Burnley will make life uncomfortable for City when they arrive for the top-flight opening clash.
Asked if City might be a little undercooked after winning the Treble and if his team could have an advantage, Kompany said: “No chance! Anyone who has been in that place has a smile on their face saying ‘don’t fall for it.’ No chance!
“If anything, it’s not really what I have to worry about. I have to expect the very best team, the very best version. You don’t win as many trophies as they have by just taking days off and taking little breathers. You just keep going and I’d like to think that in terms of mentality, it’s something that’s lived throughout this club here as well, so we expect this from the opposition team and we expect this from ourselves as well.
“As a standard rule I hope that Turf Moor will be a really difficult place for anybody to come and visit. It’s been the case all year last season so that’s one thing we want to continue.
“But one thing is saying it, one thing is doing it and tomorrow I’d love us showing signs of it already. That would be great, but we’re going to work towards that no matter what.”
“You’re facing the Treble winners, let’s put that into context, and it’s a cliche but everything has to be perfect tomorrow. It goes from how we start the game to how we finish the game, and a lot of things have to happen for us and I don’t think we’re looking too far back. I think we’re just doing what we’ve done always, is trying to focus on winning this game.”
