Bournemouth vs Man City – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Bournemouth host Man City in the English Premier League on Saturday. The hosts are six league fixtures without victory and they face a Pep Guardiola side with 12 wins in their last 13 matches. City won 6-1 in the reverse fixture.

Bournemouth Form

The Cherries are eight points above the relegation zone and are winless in six league fixtures. After an incredible run of six wins and a draw in seven Premier League matches, the streak ended with a 3-1 loss at Tottenham. A 4-0 home loss in the league came between two wins in the FA Cup.

After a 5-0 home win over Swansea in the Cup, they drew 1-1 at West Ham and 1-1 at home with Nottingham Forest. A 3-1 loss at Fulham saw them outshoot their opponents 25-7. In their last match, AFC Bournemouth drew 2-2 away at Newcastle. They led twice but conceded in the 92nd minute to drop two points.

Bournemouth Team News

Coach Andoni Iraola is without Max Aarons and Ryan Fredericks at right back due to injury. Milos Kerkez is pushing for a recall at left back which would see Lloyd Kelly move to a central role.

In midfield, Philip Billing is suspended and Tyler Adams is still out injured. Romain Faivre is back in contention after illness. Dango Ouattara is available after AFCON duty and will hope to start.

Bournemouth Motivation

The Cherries play an open and attacking game and will partly stick to those principles.
A draw at home would be a great result. A high-intensity approach will be needed and there will be large parts of the match where they will barely touch the ball.

Man City Form

City’s only defeat in the last 26 fixtures was a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa back in December. They were on an 11-match winning run across all competitions before a 1-1 draw at Chelsea last weekend. They had to fight hard to grind out a 1-0 win at Brentford on Tuesday even if they had 25 shots and 2.45 xG.

Before the draw against Chelsea, City had progressed in the FA Cup past Tottenham and won successive league matches by 3-1 scores, at home to Burnley and away at Brentford. After a 2-0 home win against Everton, they went to Denmark and beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League.

Man City Team News

Pep Guardiola has two injury absentees defender Josko Gvardiol and winger Jack Grealish. Nathan Ake is set to return at left back in place of Manuel Akanji for this match.

On the left wing, Jeremy Doku will start with youngster Oscar Bobb returning to the bench. Kevin De Bruyne will also come back into the XI after a rest with Julian Alvarez most likely to make way.

Man City Motivation

City needs a win to stay in touch with Arsenal and Liverpool in the title race.
Even a draw would feel like a disaster. They won’t be bothered with large scorelines, just efficiently getting the win.

Key Stats

Bournemouth are winless in 6 league matches (LLDDLD)

Bournemouth have conceded 14 goals in their last 6 EPL matches

Bournemouth have lost their last 14 EPL matches vs Man City (46-8 aggregate)

Man City have won 12 of their last 13 matches

Man City have won 8 of their 12 away league matches this season (3 losses)

Verdict

You can’t see any result here besides a City win. They tend to thrash the Cherries and average 3.57 goals scored in the last 14 clashes.
Best Bet: Man City win (-1 handicap) at 2.05
Alternate Bet: Man City to score Over 2.5 teams goals at 2.15
Value Bet: Man City win (-2 handicap) at 3.50

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis