Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City face newly promoted Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams enjoyed a winning start to the new campaign as each recorded 2-0 victories against claret and blue foes in the form of West Ham and Aston Villa respectively last weekend.
Aymeric Laporte is the only significant absentee impinging upon Pep Guardiola’s selection process at this early stage of the season as the centre-back recovers from knee surgery.
Bernardo Silva came off the bench against West Ham and the club has underlined its desire to keep the fleet-footed midfielder despite Barcelona’s interest.
One of the few summer arrivals Bournemouth have made thus far could be available for selection this weekend as Ryan Fredericks threatens to shake off a calf injury he sustained during preseason.
Fellow new recruit Joe Rothwell is slightly behind Fredericks in his recovery from a thigh problem which has hampered his integration into the squad.
David Brooks isn’t expected to be called upon until October at the earliest as Scott Parker tip-toes around his return from a Hodgkin Lymphoma diagnosis in 2022.
While the rest of the division gawked at an ominous debut from City’s summer arrival Erling Haaland, Cherries boss Parker is still banging the drum for more transfers on the south coast, stressing: “We definitely need more players.”
Despite their positive start, it would take an almighty recruitment drive for Bournemouth to assume the status of favourites at the home of the reigning champions. FiveThirtyEight’s predictive model gives the visitors just a 3% chance of collecting three points.
Manchester City’s defense of their EPL title got off to the perfect start last weekend as the world-class side easily dispatched West Ham courtesy of two goals from new signing Erling Haaland.
Much is expected of Haaland this season, but if the Norwegian is feeling that pressure he certainly didn’t show it, with two ice-cool finishes either side of halftime. The first came from the penalty spot and the second after latching on to an impressive pass from playmaker Kevin De Bruyne.
Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, Man City have become a well-oiled machine that can easily survive the summer losses of Raheem Sterling and Oleksandr Zinchenko, to Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. City are clear favorites to win their third Premier League title in a row — a feat only previously achieved by local rivals Manchester United on two separate occasions.
Bournemouth have been widely predicted to struggle this season, with many pundits already marking them as favorites for a swift return to the Championship, but the Cherries won’t go down without a fight. A battling 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on the opening week was proof of that, although a trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City is guaranteed to prove a much tougher test.
Can Haaland produce more magic to give Manchester City the perfect start to the season? Find out by watching the Man City vs Bournemouth live stream.
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Bournemouth were the surprise package of the opening weekend, when they cruised to a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over highly rated Aston Villa. The victory was a sensational way to mark the Cherries’ return to the Premier League after two seasons in the EFL Championship.
Erling Haaland made the perfect start to life at the Etihad with two goals as West Ham was brushed aside, and the striker now lies in wait for a team who are winless in 17 games against City.
Bournemouth boss Scott Parker will be very pleased with how his team started life back in the top flight, easily dispatching Aston Villa, but now face arguably their toughest test all season. Perhaps good to get it out the way.
Riyad Mahrez will be pushing to start after starting on the bench against West Ham, with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish preferred. Bernardo Silva’s future remains in doubt amid interest from Barcelona.
Bournemouth hope to have Ryan Fredericks available, but otherwise Parker’s squad remains the same.