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Manchester City round off an exceptionally busy week with a trip to Dorset to face Bournemouth. The match takes place at the Vitality Stadium and it kicks off at 5:30pm
Bournemouth
Having made a disastrous start to the season, Bournemouth now find themselves eight points clear of the relegation zone and given their recent performances, fans are looking up the table as opposed to over their shoulders. The Cherries picked up just three points between the beginning of the season and the end of October before a 2-1 victory over Burnley kickstarted their campaign.
Match has ended
Although their form over the last few weeks has dropped off, they won enough games between the start of November and the end of December to suggest that they will be featuring in the top flight once again next season.
The hosts have failed to win any of their last six matches although the exception of their defeat to Liverpool, they have been competitive in most of those games. Bournemouth were good value for their point with Newcastle last time out with Andoni Iraola singling out his wide player; Antoine Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier for praise. Nevertheless, the former Rayo Vallecano boss admitted that he was disappointed with the penalty decision which led to Newcastle’s equaliser.
Liverpool are the only side to have left the Vitality with maximum points since the end of October and although the visit of the champions is a potentially daunting prospect for the hosts, they will enter this contest with plenty of confidence.
Manchester City
Despite putting in a fairly dominant performance, City were only able to beat Brentford by a slender margin on Tuesday evening. It was the perfect response to dropping points against Chelsea at the weekend and the travelling fans will be expecting to pick up maximum points on Saturday teatime.
City have enjoyed three consecutive home matches and are traveling away from home for the first time since the start of the month. Pep’s men have won four consecutive away matches in the PL and were 4-1 winners on their previous visit to this stadium.
City find themselves behind leaders Liverpool and will be hoping to keep tabs on the runaway Reds. The Citizens tend to find their stride at this time of the year and they typically end the campaign strongly.
Pep left out Kevin de Bruyne on Tuesday night citing a flare up of a previous hanmstring issue, however, he reaffirmed that it wasn’t anything to worry about and his decision was precautionary. The Belgian is expected to play some part in this weekend’s contest. Jack Grealish won’t return to the squad until mid-March at the earliest whereas Josko Gvardiol is also not going to feature here.
Head to Head
City thumped Bournemouth in the previous meeting between these two sides. The hosts were 3-0 up by half time and cruised to a 6-1 victory at the Etihad. They were also victorious in their previous visit to this venue.
With 16 goals across their last four PL meetings with Bournemouth, the Cherries are always enjoyable opposition for Pep’s men, however, the hosts could offer more going forward this time around.
Bournemouth have never beaten Manchester City here, yet they have found the net in three of the last four meetings.
Key Betting Stats
- City have won four of their five penalties on the road this season
- There have been 16 goals scored across City’s last four away games
- City haven’t kept a clean sheet on the road since the end of October.
- Five of Phil Foden’s eight goals have been scored away from home. The England international also found the net in the reverse fixture.
- Bournemouth have conceded an average of 1.55 goals per game at the Vitality.
- The Cherries are yet to keep a clean sheet in 2024
Match Prediction
City should be able to continue their dominance over this opponent, yet they might not find it entirely straightforward. Bournemouth look sharp going forward and have plenty of threats. They could also take advantage of City’s vulnerabilities at the back.
Winning Combo
Over 2.5 Goals and BTTS
10/11 with Bet365
Best Bookmaker
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