Bournemouth vs Manchester City: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Manchester City have enjoyed another excellent start to the season and we expect this to continue with a comfortable victory over Bournemouth. City have been nothing short of exceptional in the Premier League in 2024, remaining unbeaten since the December game of last year against Aston Villa.

This season, Pep Guardiola’s side have been sensational as they remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League with seven wins and two draws. Bournemouth have been in indifferent form over the last five games, having won two, lost two and drawn once.

The visitors have a ruthless record in this fixture with 15 consecutive wins since Bournemouth’s arrival in the top flight. The Champions have scored first in each of the last ten meetings between the pair. Six of the previous seven meetings between the two teams have provided over 2.5 goals – Bournemouth 1-3 Man City

Manchester City make the trip down south to take on Bournemouth in the Premier League, as they look to maintain, or extend, their slim lead at the top of the table.

Date: 02/11/24

Kick-off time: 15:00

Venue: Vitality Stadium

The Champions have once again started the season in excellent fashion, and are now the only team to remain unbeaten in the league. They did, however, fall to defeat for the first time in their most recent game in the EFL Cup at Tottenham. The side sit in first place, a point clear of Liverpool and five ahead of Arsenal. They will be desperate to continue their three-game winning streak to keep the pair at arm’s length.

They will be facing a Bournemouth side who have an endured an indifferent start to the campaign, occupying 11th position. They did pick up an impressive win against Arsenal, but have been unable to sustain any momentum, failing to win consecutive games yet. They now face their biggest test in City, one they will have to be at full concentration for at both ends of the pitch.

Erling Haaland is of course the main attacking threat, with the Norwegian scoring 11 goals in the first nine league games. He went through a three-game scoreless streak, but netted the winner last time out against Southampton. With injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, expect Phil Foden to get a chance in the starting lineup, which provides an alternative danger to deal with.

At the other end, Bournemouth will be leaning on the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson, who lead their scoring charts with three and two goals respectively. The latter scored a stoppage time equaliser in their draw at Aston Villa last weekend, so comes into this one with confidence. They should have optimism in troubling a City defence who have kept just two clean sheets all season.

As expected, Man City are the dominant side in the head-to-head between these two teams. However, they are so superior, Bournemouth have never won against their opposition. City are currently on a 15-game winning streak in all competitions, since the Cherries’ promotion to the top flight in 2015. Last season, City won both games by a combined score of 7-1, though only won the away fixture 1-0.

Bournemouth vs Manchester City will not be available to watch on TV in the UK.

Bournemouth

Bournemouth could be handed a big boost with the return of Luis Sinisterra, whilst Kepa Arrizabalaga is also expected to return to the lineup. They should have no new injury concerns otherwise.

Man City

Savinho was carried off on a stretcher in City’s Carabao Cup tie at Spurs, so his availability for this weekend is in severe doubt. Pep Guardiola remains without Kevin De Bruyne who may not return until after the international break. Jeremy Doku is also expected to miss out.

Bournemouth:

In their last five games, Bournemouth have won two, lost two and drawn one. It has been a mixed stretch for the Cherries in recent weeks. However, they picked up a big point last time out away at Aston Villa. Ross Barkley had given the hosts the lead, but Evanilson salvaged a draw with a 96th minute equaliser.

This followed an even bigger result in which they were 2-0 winners against a 10-man Gunners side after William Saliba was shown a straight red card in the first half. Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert were the scorers. Before this they fell to a disappointing 1-0 loss at Leicester. Facundo Buonanotte scored the winner in the 16th minute.

Bournemouth picked up their second win of the season against Southampton. Evanilson, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo gave them a 3-0 half-time lead. The Saints pulled one back shortly after the restart. This run began with a tricky trip to Anfield. A disallowed goal denied them the lead before Luis Diaz scored two in as many minutes to take the game away. Darwin Nunez added a third.

Man City:

In their last five games, Man City have won four and lost one. It has been an excellent start to the season for the Premier League champions. This run started with a 3-2 win at home to Fulham. The visitors took a shock lead through Andreas Pereira, but a brace from Mateo Kovacic turned it around. Jeremy Doku extended the lead before Fulham pulled another back. However, it was too late to complete a comeback.

They came back from the international break with a dramatic 2-1 victory away at Wolves. City fell behind early, but levelled the score with a stunning strike from Josko Gvardiol. With the game headed for a draw, John Stones scored in the 95th minute to snatch all three points. Next they hosted Sparta Praha in the Champions League. They were dominant 5-0 winners with goals from Phil Foden, Erling Haaland (x2), Stones and Matheus Nunes.

At the weekend, they narrowly beat Southampton 1-0 thanks to a Haaland winner. Their most recent game was a trip to Tottenham in the EFL Cup fourth round. They were knocked out with a 2-1 loss. Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr gave Spurs a healthy advantage, with Nunes’ response not enough.

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