Premier League
Bournemouth vs Manchester City Preview
- Date: Sunday, August 25, 2019
- Time: 9:00 am (EST)
- Network: NBCSN
- Location: Bournemouth, England
- Venue: Vitality Stadium
- Seating Capacity: 11,329
Team News
Injuries are an issue for both teams heading into Sunday’s match with Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola missing some vital players. Bournemouth will be without a few familiar faces including midfielder Junior Stanislas, Simon Francis, and Lewis Cook.
New signings Arnaut Danjuma, from Club Brugge, and Lloyd Kelly, from Bristol City, will both have to wait for their first appearances for the Cherries with a foot and ankle injury respectively.
Long serving midfielder Dan Gosling is still recovering from a July hip surgery. 2019 PFA Young Player of the Year Nominee David Brooks is still missing after an ankle injury sustained in pre-season.
Manchester City are struggling with injury problems early in the season with John Stones still struggling with the thigh muscle injury that caused him to miss their 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
The oft injured Benjamin Mendy is back in training after recovering from a Meniscus injury but won’t be fit enough to take part in Sunday’s clash.
Lastly, as will be the case for the foreseeable future, winger Leroy Sane will be missing as he continues his long journey in recovering from an ACL injury suffered during the Community Shield against Liverpool.
By the Numbers
Since their Premier League debut in the 2015/16 season, Bournemouth have had a horrendous time against the reigning Champions. In the last eight meetings between the teams, Eddie Howe’s men have only managed 4 goals. Meanwhile, Manchester City has scored an astounding 25 goals. Therefore, since Bournemouth’s debut season in the Premier League, Manchester City has scored more goals against Bournemouth than any other team, except for Watford and West Ham. The Hornets and the Hammers have also conceded 25 goals in that time although it took 9 Premier League matches for West Ham to reach that tally.
Bournemouth see very little of the ball when facing Manchester City. Meaning they are relying on their defense to keep them in the match. In their previous 8 matches Manchester City have averaged 67.5% of possession, and they had an astounding 82% in their 1-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium last season.
Prediction & Line-Ups For Bournemouth vs Manchester City Preview
Bournemouth under Eddie Howe have very rarely shown fear against opponents and nothing will change this weekend. However, Bournemouth’s defensive frailties will likely be exposed by Pep Guardiola’s marauding offense with Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne starting the season in great form.
Bournemouth’s performances against two newly promoted sides, Aston Villa and Sheffield United won’t fill his side with very much confidence. In order to have any chance in picking up points in this match the Cherries are going to need to score goals.
They will be dangerous on the break with the pace of Ryan Fraser, Joshua King, and Callum Wilson but they need to make the most of the few opportunities they will get. Harry Wilson could also be a viable danger man with his long range efforts and free kick ability.
Bournemouth XI: (4-4-1-1)
Ramsdale; Smith, Cook, Aké, Daniels, Harry Wilson, Surman, Lerma, Fraser; King; Callum Wilson
Manchester City will heavily back themselves heading into this match given their previous performances against Bournemouth but they need to make the most of their chances. Against Tottenham the Citizens had 30 shots with 10 of those on target but only managed two goals.
David Silva is a shoe in for the starting line-up as he prepares to make his 400th appearance for the Manchester club. Meanwhile, Sterling and De Bruyne have hit their stride early so look for them to start and try to kill the game off early.
Manchester City XI (4-3-3)
Ederson; Cancelo, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, David Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez
The attacking quality of Pep’s squad will surely be too much for Bournemouth. Last season Eddie Howe attempted to park the bus against City and still only managed to frustrate them before Riyad Mahrez took them to victory. The Cherries are going to need a different approach on Sunday if they are looking for a different result. The only way to beat this Manchester City squad is score goals so they have to come out of their shell and put the pressure on if they want to have a fighting chance.
Prediction: Bournemouth 0 – 4 Manchester City
Written by Chase Brittingham
Follow Chase and TSJ: Soccer on Twitter!
Photo credit to favoritnr1smm Flickr
Follow TSJ on YouTube and Twitter
