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Recommended bets
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Match preview
After slipping up last weekend, will Manchester City get back on track in Dorset?
A week ago, despite taking the lead through Bernardo Silva, and dominating throughout, the Citizens were held to a 1-1 draw at the City Ground by Nottingham Forest.
This saw Pep Guardiola’s team fall two points behind Arsenal in the title race, having won just one of their last four away games.
Then, Wednesday night’s Champions League last 16 first leg against RB Leipzig followed a remarkably similar pattern.
Riyāḍ Maḥrez broke the deadlock in the first half at Red Bull Arena, but the Bundesliga side improved after the break and earned a 1-1 draw.
Obviously, Man City are overwhelming favourites to get through on 14 March, but they continue to not be at their brilliant best.
Since the Cherries were first promoted to the Premier League in 2015, they’ve lost all 12 meetings with Man City, conceding 36 goals, including the usual 4-0 drubbing at the Etihad in August.
This includes a 1-0 home defeat in 2019, in which Bournemouth failed to have a single shot on or off target, the only time that’s ever happened in English professional football since records began.
In the more recent past, last Saturday to be precise, Gary O’Neil’s side claimed a victory that was crucial and surprising in equal measure.
Marcus Tavernier the only scorer, coming just after half time, as Bournemouth beat Wolves at Molineux.
This was the Cherries’ first victory since before the World Cup, but saw them leap out of the relegation zone, above West Ham and Leeds.
The win was all the more important given that, after this, O’Neil’s team take on Arsenal and then Liverpool.
Can Bournemouth kick off that very daunting sequence of fixtures by beating Man City for the first time ever?
Bournemouth team news
Marcus Tavernier’s goal at Molineux should earn him another start here, probably keeping Jaidon Anthony on the bench.
Jordan Zemura hobbled off late on in that win so, if he’s not fit, Matías Viña will come in at left-back.
With Lewis Cook nursing a knee injury, Philip Billing will continue to partner Jefferson Lerma in midfield.
Predicted XI (4-4-1-1): Neto; Smith, Stephens, Senesi, Zemura; Lerma, Billing, Ouattara, Tavernier, Traorè; Solanke.
Manchester City team news
Neither Kevin De Bruyne nor Aymeric Laporte traveled to Leipzig due to illness, while John Stones is still sidelined.
Pep Guardiola didn’t make a single substitution in that Champions League draw, suggesting that he doesn’t trust his squad very much.
He did though have £50 million signing Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Julián Álvarez, amongst others, in reserve in Germany, so don’t feel too sorry for Pep.
Left-back continues to be a problem position for Man City, specifically the fact that they don’t really have one.
Nathan Aké is the most logical choice, while summer singing Sergio Gómez, who is a left-back, hasn’t featured in the league since 8 October.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Aké; Rodri, Gündoğan, Silva, Maḥrez; Grealish, Håland.
Bournemouth vs Manchester City: Head to head statistics
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Premier League table
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