Bournemouth vs Manchester City

Manchester City’s Premier League title defense faces a potential banana skin as they head to the Vitality Stadium to encounter Bournemouth.

Bournemouth dropped two separate second-half leads in a goal-glutted 2-2 draw at Newcastle United last weekend, maintaining their poor start to the new calendar year. But even though only Burnley’s dismal two-point tally is worse than the Cherries’ three in 2024, Andoni Iraola’s men come into proceedings eight points clear of the drop zone. While there’s no reason to panic yet, Bournemouth’s disappointing six-game winless league streak (D3, L3) requires immediate attention, especially with Man City rolling into town. Indeed, the Boscombe outfit has lost all 13 previous matches against perennial champions in the Premier League, their worst 100% loss rate against specific opposition in the competition’s history. That trend seems destined to continue as Bournemouth are winless in their last 12 top-flight encounters against the sides starting the matchday in the top four (D2, L10).

Meanwhile, unfazed by a gut-wrenching 1-1 home draw against Chelsea last weekend, Manchester City eked out a gutsy 1-0 win against Brentford in midweek Premier League action to stay within striking distance of table-topping Liverpool. Despite trailing the Reds by four points, the Citizens boast a game in hand, suggesting an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title is well within reach. Adding to this sentiment, Pep Guardiola’s men have gone into overdrive since a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa in early December, winning four successive away league matches despite conceding at least one goal on each occasion. Bringing other competitions into the equation, the visitors are unbeaten in their last 16 games (W14, D2).