Premier League defending champions Manchester City will continue their title defense this Saturday when they welcome the newly promoted Bournemouth to the Etihad Stadium.
Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)
Key Statistics
Manchester City have scored 2+ goals in nine of their last ten home matches
In their match against West Ham, Man City controlled 75% of the possessions. In addition, the Sky Blues had control of shots (14-6) and corner kicks (4-1).
There’s been an average of five goals per game across Man City’s last five home league openers.
The hosts have kept 11 clean sheets in their last league 20 matches
Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last nine league games (five wins and four draws).
They have won their last four league games, keeping four clean sheets in that period.
The visitors had the best defense in the Championship last season as they conceded just 339 goals.
Head to head
Manchester City are completely dominant in this fixture winning ten out of the ten head-to-head meetings between both sides in the Premier League while scoring 30 goals and conceding just five.
Latest performances in all competitions
Manchester City: W-L-W-W-W
Bournemouth: W-L-L-L-W
Manchester City
Manchester City will look to make it two wins in two league games when they welcome Premier league newbies AFC Bournemouth to the Etihad this Saturday.
The Cityzens bounced back from their disappointing 3-1 loss to Liverpool in the FA Community Shield a fortnight ago when they beat West Ham 2-0 last weekend.
In a one-sided game at the London Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s side controlled over 70% of the ball while outshooting their opponents 14-6. However, despite their dominance and eventual win, Guardiola will be more pleased with his new striker, Erling Haaland, who scored both goals for his team and was a constant thorn in the flesh of the West Ham defenders.
The Norwegian is expected to do great things in the English Premier League, given his remarkable goal record in the past. He will lead the line again in this game and will fancy his chances of scoring a couple of goals considering that his side are yet to drop points against the Cherries.
Possible Manchester City starting line-up
Ederson Moraes, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo; Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland.
Injured: Aymeric Laporte
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Bournemouth
After spending a season in the Championship, Bournemouth returned to the Premier League with a bang as they defeated Aston Villa 2-0 in their opening game last weekend.
In a one-sided game that saw Villa dominate, it was the Cherries who took their chances. They opened the scoring in the second minute of the game when Jefferson Lerma bundled home from a set-piece before Kieffer Moore sealed the win with a late goal from another set-piece situation.
The win means that the visitors come into this game with four wins from their last four competitive games. It also means that they have not conceded a goal in over 360 minutes of league game action.
But given that they have not beaten Man City in the Premier League, they come into this game as the outsiders. But they will be desperate to spring a surprise against the champions and they hope to keep themselves within the top half of the table for long.
Possible Bournemouth starting line-up
Mark Travers; Jefferson Lerma, Chris Mepham, Lloyd Kelly; Adam Smith, Ben Pearson, Philip Billing, Jordan Zemura; Marcus Tavernier, Ryan Christie, Dominic Solanke.
Injured: Joe Rothwell, Ryan Fredericks
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Manchester City 2-0 Bournemouth
