Bournemouth vs. Man City
Venue: Vitality Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Manchester City have the chance to reclaim top spot in the Premier League this afternoon when they take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The Citizens trail Liverpool by a point ahead of this weekend’s matches, but they are in action a day before the Reds and can up the pressure on their title rivals with victory on the south coast.
One trophy already secured, Man City’s quest for the quadruple is now well and truly on as they prepare for a tough period that sees them play four more times before the middle of March.
Three days on from edging out Chelsea on penalties at Wembley Stadium to lift the EFL Cup, City nearly came crashing back down to earth as they were made to work hard for their 1-0 win over West Ham United.
Sergio Aguero scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot to ensure that City remain within a point of Liverpool, who thumped Watford 5-0 on the same evening to send out a message.
The momentum has been on the Citizens’ side for a number of weeks now, having won 15 of their last 16 matches in all competitions to set themselves up for a clean sweep of silverware, but they showed signs of fatigue in midweek and any sort of slip up now could prove costly.
City have a last-16 return leg against Schalke 04 to prepare for in the Champions League and an FA Cup quarter-final trip to Swansea City over the next fortnight, but for now all focus is on picking up six points from six against Bournemouth and Watford.
With Liverpool heading to bitter rivals Everton on Sunday, Pep Guardiola will see this as a huge chance to increase the pressure on the Reds in what is turning out to be a thrilling title race.
However, Man City have lost three of their last six Premier League away games – more than they had in their previous 34 on the road – going down 2-0 to Chelsea, 2-1 to Leicester City and 2-1 to Newcastle United over the past 12 weeks.
Guardiola admitted after the shock loss at Newcastle that he thought his side’s title hopes were over. Jump forward a month, though, and many have City – despite the fact that they are second with 10 games to go – down as the favourites to retain their crown.
After winning their last four league matches by an aggregate score of 12-1, it is clear to see why. Unless Bournemouth can produce a shock result, top spot will be City’s again come kickoff in the Merseyside derby – how Liverpool handle the pressure in that one could well determine where the title ends up come the end of May.
Bournemouth possible XI: Boruc, Clyne, Mepham, Ake, Daniels, Ibe, Gosling, Surman, Fraser, Mousset, King.
Manchester City possible XI: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Gundogan, D.Silva, Bernardo, Aguero, Sterling.
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