CITY OUT TO MAINTAIN PERFECT START UNDER PEP
VICTORY for Manchester City over Bournemouth will make it five wins out of five in the Premier League under coach Pep Guardiola. His side have won seven out of seven in all competitions and are full of confidence after opening their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in midweek.
Guardiola will have to do without striker Sergio Agüero, who scored a hat-trick against Gladbach but misses out as he serves the second match of a three-game suspension.
But new signing Ilkay Gündogan had Guardiola singing his praises on his midweek debut and he could play a starring role against Bournemouth.
“It shows how good he is,” Guardiola said.
“After three or four months out… he is so intelligent and he is really good when arriving in the box. His qualities will help us a lot.”
Guardiola has hit the ground running since his arrival in the summer and was delighted with the standing ovation the team received after their latest victory.
“With what these players have done since the beginning – in our games home and away – our players deserve the standing ovation.”
Tottenham, two points behind City in second, take on Sunderland.
Sunderland sit joint-bottom of the table with just one point from four games after another bad start to the season.
And now they have to travel to a Tottenham side who have begun well, despite a midweek defeat in the Champions League.
Striker Duncan Watmore said the players were united in their quest to dig themselves out of their early troubles.
“Everyone is taking responsibility; it is just frustrating because you cannot defend like we did (in their 3-0 loss at Everton last weekend).
“We know that and we know we can do better and that is what we want to do against Tottenham, put in a much better performance.”
“It is a learning curve, but we need to do it quickly. We needed to start well, we need more points and we will try to do that starting with Tottenham. We need to stay positive.”
Bottom side Stoke travel to Crystal Palace struggling for confidence but assistant manager Mark Bowen said they will get themselves out of bother sooner rather than later.
“Of course questions have been asked in the dressing room because we didn’t want to be in this situation but the lads have acknowledged that their levels of performance haven’t been what we expect,” he said.
“We have top quality players in the dressing room and we will turn things around, there is no doubt about that in my mind. We will get it right.”
England midfielder Ross Barkley needs to improve “in all areas” according to his Everton manager Ronald Koeman who substituted him at half-time during the 3-0 win at Sunderland on Monday.
Dutchman Koeman is clearly not afraid to rattle cages and with Everton flying high in the Premier League, Barkley has been warned that he is no automatic choice.
“There was a reason to take Ross Barkley off at half-time. He didn’t play well, lost too many balls. Players of that quality can’t lose those kinds of balls,” said Koeman, whose side are third in the Premier League after four games.
“I had a talk with Ross, he needs to improve and we will see at the weekend. He understands, we showed him the clips and there is no escape.”
Barkley is still to deliver fully on his promise and failed to make new England manager Sam Allardyce’s squad for their World Cup qualifier against Slovakia this month.
Against Sunderland he lost possession 11 times in a woeful first half, looking bereft of confidence.
“You look to his qualities he needs to be the key player between defenders and strikers, in a position to create and defensively be part of a team – in all aspects he can and needs to improve,” Koeman said.
Gareth Barry is in line to make his 600th Premier League appearance against Middlesbrough.
“It is amazing, 19 seasons in a row. That is fantastic,” Koeman said of the former Aston Villa and Manchester City player.
New signing Enner Valencia could make his debut after signing from West Ham United last month.
Manchester United travel to Watford while Arsenal are at Hull, champions Leicester host Burnley, West Brom play West Ham and Southampton take on Swansea in the weekend’s other matches.