Five things to look out for – Manchester City vs Bournemouth

Manchester Metropolis return to Premier League motion as they welcome Bournemouth to the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues have performed three consecutive video games on the highway, faring effectively with wins in opposition to Villarreal within the UEFA Champions League and Swansea Metropolis within the Carabao Cup however shedding disappointingly final weekend to Aston Villa within the league.

Their opponents are having fun with an impressive run of kind, and are available into this fixture two factors forward of Metropolis and in second place, 4 factors behind leaders Arsenal.

Listed below are 5 issues to sit up for as Metropolis conflict with the Cherries:

Rodri returning to the bench

As a part of his pre-match press convention, Pep Guardiola confirmed that Metropolis have a completely match squad heading into the weekend, which incorporates the health of Erling Haaland and Rodri.

Haaland collided with the put up final week in opposition to Villa, however appears to have shaken off his knock, while Rodri went off injured with a hamstring damage little underneath a month in the past.

The Spanish midfielder will most likely not be prepared to begin, however Guardiola was hopeful that he may play some function in opposition to Bournemouth.

Nico Gonzalez has been chic in his absence, and there’s a spot for him alongside Rodri in midfield, however as soon as the 2024 Ballon D’or winner is on top of things we are able to anticipate Metropolis to go up one other gear.

However as for now, Metropolis’s midfield trio in opposition to Andoni Iraola’s aspect will most likely look very completely different to what we’d anticipate 12 months in the past, and even completely different to this fixture final season.

Metropolis performed a midfield three of Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan final season in Kevin de Bruyne’s final dwelling recreation, regardless of having already signed Nico.

However this season issues are completely different, and I anticipate the 23-year-old to undoubtedly begin as he’s been certainly one of Metropolis’s most indispensable gamers this marketing campaign to this point.

Forward of him Rayan Cherki deserves to maintain his place after a person of the match efficiency together with a purpose and an help in opposition to Swansea on Wednesday.

There are a number of gamers that would play with Nico and Cherki, however I anticipate it to be Bernardo Silva or Tijjani Reijnders given each of them had been not noted of the squad fully in opposition to Swansea.

I wouldn’t rule it previous each of them enjoying with Bernardo or Cherki on the best hand aspect. That is significantly harsh on Phil Foden who has began the season effectively, however will probably be a tremendous choice from the bench.

The trio of Cherki, Nico and Reijnders didn’t fare effectively in any respect in opposition to Spurs, however they’ve had an additional two and a half months since then to mattress in at Metropolis and can make for a dynamic, thrilling midfield.

Bournemouth’s finest participant, and arguably the very best within the Premier League to this point this season has been Antoine Semenyo.

The Ghanaian left winger has scored six Premier League targets in 9 video games, and will effectively be on the radar of huge golf equipment for the upcoming January and summer season switch home windows in 2026.

Proper again is a weak spot for Metropolis, with there not being a single recognised choice in that place since Kyle Walker left in January.

Abdukodir Khusanov has finished a wonderful job there defensively however has not too long ago come again from damage, and doesn’t provide a lot going ahead both, that means I feel he’ll sit this one out.

Rico Lewis is tidy on the ball however hasn’t been nice for a 12 months now, along with his finest performances coming within the centre of midfield nearly as a quantity ten.

That leaves Matheus Nunes to be the person to maintain Semenyo occupied. The Portuguese worldwide is bodily able to doing so and is an efficient one vs one defender too, however struggles with psychological lapses of focus.

Nunes should maintain these to a minimal if he’s going to subdue among the finest left wingers on the earth, and if he does it’ll considerably minimise the risk posed by the Cherries.

Metropolis leaning on transitions

In his pre match press convention, Iraola stated he thinks Metropolis are embracing transitions extra typically underneath their new iteration.

Quick ahead two seasons in the past, and managing the sport and attempting to keep away from transitions was inevitable, with the likes of Bernardo, Gundogan and Jack Grealish important members of title successful sides.

However these days, Metropolis play extra to the strengths of Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden by enjoying the ball ahead a bit faster.

They’ll naturally concede extra transitions too however with fast, athletic gamers like Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O’Reilly, Nico and Josko Gvardiol in defence and within the midfield, they’re higher tailored at defending them.

Guardiola is adapting his system to swimsuit the quicker paced trendy soccer, and with the gamers they’ve proper now they’ll trigger any workforce issues.

Metropolis’s wonderful dwelling file in opposition to Bournemouth

Metropolis have gained each single dwelling match they’ve performed in opposition to Bournemouth since they had been promoted for the primary time in 2015, and it’s typically by a convincing scoreline.

They had been on the shedding aspect in opposition to the Cherries for the primary time on the Vitality Stadium within the league final season – the start of their autumn stoop that successfully dominated them out of the title race.

However apart from that, the Blues all the time appear to discover a approach to beat Bournemouth and I anticipate them to have the ability to get the three factors this Sunday.