Manchester City vs Bournemouth: Preview and Prediction

Manchester City vs Bournemouth
English Premier League.
Date: Saturday, 17 September, 2016,
Kick-off: 15:00 UK
Venue: City of Manchester Stadium.

Manchester City have made an excellent start to the new season by winning in all of their first four league matches. They defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 on Wednesday to register the 7th successive win in a competitive match this season under the new management of Pep Gaurdiola. They will welcome Bournemouth to the Etihad for the weekend Premier League fixture sitting top of the Premier League table with a massive goal aggregate of +11.

While Bournemouth have got their first win of the season edging past a poor West Brom 1-0 last week. They lost back-to-back games on the opening two matchdays of the new season – 3-1 at home to Manchester United and 1-0 away to West Ham. They held Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw in their third fixture in the league and are currently sitting 15th in the league table with 4 points from 4 matches.

Manchester City: Team News

As the Tuesday’s Champions League fixture against Gladbach was deferred to Wednesday due to poor playing conditions at the Etihad, Pep is expected to make some changes to keep his squad fit.

Ilkay Gundogan is in line to make his first league start after appearing in the mid-week Champions League fixture. Bacary Sagna is expected to return to the starting line-up replacing Pabla Zabaleta, while Leroy Sane is also pushing for a start.

Sergio Aguero will serve the second of his three match suspension, which gives Iheanacho another start. David Silva is nursing a thigh strain and is unlikely to be risked, while Vincent Komany is out with an injury.

Manchester City: Expected Starting Line-up vs Bournemouth

Bravo – Kolarov, Otamendi, Stones, Sagna – Fernandinho – Sane, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Sterling – Iheanacho.

Bournemouth: Team News

Tyrone Mings is the only player out with an injury for Bournemouth in their trip to the city of Manchester.

There are some concerns on the fitness of Jack Wilshere who otherwise fit is expected to make his first start after making his loan switch from Arsenal this summer.

Bournemouth Expected Starting Line-up vs Manchester City

Boruc – Daniesl, Cook, Francis, Smith – Stanislas, Surman, Arter, Ibe – Wilshere – Wilson.

Manchester City vs Bournemouth: Head-to-Head Stats

Manchester City earned two comfortable victories when they faced Bournemouth last season. A 5-1 win at home on October 2015 and 4-0 away at Bournemouth on April 2016.

Raheem Sterling has scored a hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Bournemouth at the Etihad on October 2015.

The previous two meetings was during their time together in League One on 1998/1999. City were unbeaten with a 2-1 win at home and 0-0 draw in the reverse leg.

Manchester City vs Bournemouth: Prediction

Manchester City are looking unstoppable on their current form. They have already scored 22 goals from their 7 competitive matches so far this season. While Bournemouth have conceded 9 goals in the two meetings with Man City last season and have a poor record in away games. If City can maintain their fitness levels, this is going to be another win with a big margin.

Over 2.5 goals at 19/40 is a safe bet for this match, while over 3.5 at 6/5 is a risk worth taking.