EXTENDING RECORDS
CITY have won all 10 of their Premier League meetings with Bournemouth with an aggregate score of 30-5. It’s the best 100 per cent winning record by one team against another in the competition.
Better still, Bournemouth have only led for eight minutes of their 16 league meetings with the Blues since 1987 and the Cherries have never beaten City in a league game - the joint most any team has faced another in the Football League (16 games) without a win.
And the Blues have only lost one of their first home league games in the last 22 seasons - when Leicester stunned them with a 5-1 win in 2020/21.
City have scored 23 goals in their last four opening league games at the Etihad, averaging almost six per game.
REPLACING STERLING’S GOALS
DURING City’s dominance against Bournemouth, Raheem Sterling was often the main man they turned to for goals, with the former No.7 scoring nine times against the Cherries - only against Watford did he score more in a
Blues shirt. After that, Sergio Aguero scored five against them and Gabriel Jesus had two, leaving the top scorer in games with Bournemouth of players still at the Etihad as Ilkay Gundogan, also with two.
So City will need a new focal point to put the promoted side to the sword and Erling Haaland looks to be an obvious candidate after his clinical brace at West
Ham. Scott Parker, Bournemouth manager, could only laugh about the prospect of trying to stop Haaland, saying: “That shouldn’t too much of a challenge, should it? Especially after the weekend, and the way he was!”
the pitch and control the game. They would expect to beat Bournemouth at home regardless of their set-up, although the Cherries’ win against Aston Villa on the opening day came by targeting the right wing.
It may be that Joao Cancelo cannot invert as much as he did last weekend and that a new approach will be needed at the Etihad.
Bournemouth will surely defend deep and try to catch the Blues on the break, so this could be a first real test to see how Erling Haaland and the new-look attack fare in a situation that will be replicated regularly this season.
BERNARDO WATCH
BERNARDO Silva was dropped to the bench against West Ham after starting all three pre-season games. Tactically, the decision was justified as Ilkay Gundogan played a pivotal role, although it was hard to ignore the uncertainty over the Portugal international’s future last week after Pep Guardiola admitted he doesn’t know if his no.20 will leave this summer.
Now, Bernardo has said the same thing, although also insisting he is happy to remain at City if that happens.
So does Bernardo get a recall against Bournemouth after his admission that he could leave, or is it best to keep him out of the firing line until his future is resolved?
EARLY PACESETTERS
A big victory would likely take City top of the Premier League by the end of Saturday and three points ahead of Liverpool before their fixture on Monday night.