Making way are Kyle Walker, Oscar Bobb and Julian Alvarez.
Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish are both fit enough to be named among today’s substitutes as City look to close the gap on leaders Liverpool.
TEAMS
BOURNEMOUTH: Neto (C), Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez, Cook, Tavernier, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Solanke
Subs: Travers, Radu, Mepham, Kinsey, Scott, Faivre, Sinisterra, Dango, Unal
CITY: Ederson, Akanji, Stones, Dias (C), Ake, Rodrigo, Nunes, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Walker, Grealish, Doku, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Gomez, Bobb, Lewis
Formation
Manuel Akanji and Ake look set to fill the full-back berths this afternoon, with Ruben Dias and John Stones in central defence.
Rodrigo will anchor a midfield that also included Nunes and Kovacic.
Alongside striker Erling Haaland will be Phil Foden and Bernardo on either flank.
WATCH: Stat Attack: Bournemouth v City
City - the Cherry Pickers
Because of what has gone before, this is a fixture Bournemouth fans must dread.
City have a 100% record against the Cherries in league football - 13 wins out of 13 - and our 19 meetings have yielded 17 wins and two draws.
It’s an astonishing stat that obviously the Blues will look to extend later this afternoon.
It is fair to say this is one of the better Bournemouth sides we have faced in recent times, but given the competitive nature of the current title race, City cannot afford to drop points as Pep Guardiola‘s side hunt down LIverpool - and fend off the challenge of Arsenal who play this evening.
Who will pay the price?
Erling Haaland has cut a frustrated figure in the past few games.
Our Norwegian striker took his one chance against Brentford superbly, but hasn’t quite found his rhythm since returning from a foot injury.
It feels as though somebody is going to pay at some stage, because sooner or later, he is probably going to hit three or four in one game.
Bournemouth will hope it isn’t during this encounter that Haaland fires on all cylinders again!
Stats, facts and milestones
● Bournemouth have won none of their 19 league games against City (D2 L17), the most any side has ever faced another without winning in English Football League history.
● City have won all 13 of their Premier League games against Bournemouth, the best 100% record any team has against another in English top-flight history.
● Since a run of six wins from seven Premier League games in November and December, Bournemouth have failed to win any of their last six games (D3 L3) and only Burnley (2) have collected fewer points in 2024 so far than the Cherries (3). They have, however, scored at least once in 15 of their last 16 league matches, with the only exception being a 0-4 home loss to Liverpool last month.
● City have won each of their last four Premier League away games, as many as they had in their previous 10 on the road combined (D2 L4).
● City have fallen behind in each of their last six Premier League away games, though have come back to win each of the last four. Only Manchester United (6 in 2020) have won more consecutive away games from behind in the competition.
● Excluding MD1 games, Bournemouth have failed to win any of their last 12 Premier League matches against sides starting the day in the top four (D2 L10 – four of those defeats coming against Manchester City), since a 4-1 home win against Leicester back in July 2020.
● City manager Pep Guardiola has won all 12 of his games against Bournemouth in all competitions by an aggregate scoreline of 37-7, his best 100%-win record against an opponent in his managerial career.
● Having only netted six Premier League goals last season, Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke has scored 14 in 24 games this season. Only Joshua King in 2016-17 (16) has scored more in a single top-flight season for the Cherries. Of Solanke’s 14 goals this season, 12 have either drawn them level (3) or put them ahead (9) in the match.
● Jérémy Doku had a hand in five of City’s six goals against Bournemouth in the reverse fixture (1 goal, 4 assists). The most goal involvements a City player has registered against an opponent in a single Premier League campaign is six – Stephen Ireland against Hull (2008-09), Sergio Agüero against QPR (2014-15) and Agüero again against Newcastle (2015-16).
● Phil Foden has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances for Manchester City against Bournemouth, both scoring and assisting in two of those games (3 goals, 2 assists in total). The Englishman also netted a hat-trick against Brentford in his last away outing in the competition.
MAN CITY APP COVERAGE
Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from the Vitality Stadium in one place.
Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at 16:30 (UK).
We will have guests Steve Howey, Lee Bradbury and Keith Curle on the latest Matchday Live show, offering their expert insight before, during and after the action.
They will also answer viewer questions throughout the broadcast, with audience participation actively encouraged on Matchday Live. To get in touch, send a WhatsApp to: +447537186538.
During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann while our text commentary continues.
Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.
You’ll be able to watch brief highlights from 21:15 (UK) with extended highlights – and a CITY+ full-match replay - following at midnight.
