Bournemouth v Man City preview: Pep hopes to pip Cherries to win
Some media outlets highlighted the "gamesmanship" involved in that win, which ended a seven-match winless Premier League (PL) run (D2, L5), but Cherries manager Gary O’Neil is unlikely to care with Bournemouth dangling only one point above the drop zone ahead of the round.
They’ll need more of that spirit if they’re to survive one of the toughest schedules the league has to offer with Manchester City coming to town before meetings with Arsenal and Liverpool directly following.
Perhaps the Cherries won’t place too much onus on winning this contest in their bid to avoid an immediate return to the second tier, having not beaten City in 17 league meetings (D2, L15) - which coincidentally is the most times one team has met another without winning in English football history!
There appears to be chinks in the armour of the juggernauts however, displayed by just two victories from their last five PL away games (D1, L2) after a 1-1 draw to Nottingham Forest in their last league outing.
That sees them trail Arsenal in second place by two points, having also played one game more than the table-toppers.
Despite that gap, Pep Guardiola’s serial winners are still given a 52.5% chance by Opta Analyst to win the league ahead of their chase of a 200th PL away victory.
Though the visitors will be buoyed by a 1-1 midweek Champions League draw at RB Leipzig that manager Pep Guardiola said he was "delighted" with, the Cherries may be able to take advantage of City’s busy schedule of four games in ten days to stop them reaching that milestone on the South Coast.
Players to watch: Marcus Tavernier could be key to Bournemouth’s fortunes as he has seven goal contributions from his last five outings (G3, A4). Equally important to his side is Jack Grealish, with City winning 78% of their PL games when he has played (W14, D2, L2), compared with only 33% when he hasn’t (W2, D2, L2)!
Hot stat: In their triumph over Wolves, Bournemouth won a PL game in which they had just one shot on target for the first time since September 2016!
