Man City vs. Bournemouth
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Manchester City head into today’s Premier League encounter with Bournemouth looking to extend their lead at the top of the standings to five points with each of their nearest rivals playing on Sunday.
On the other hand, Bournemouth make the trip to the Etihad Stadium having suffered three successive defeats, but the Cherries still remain in eighth place in the table.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged that his side had been thoroughly tested during their 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday night, but the Spaniard will only take positives ahead of the next period of fixtures.
City twice came from behind in France in a game where they knew that a share of the spoils would be enough to secure qualification for the last 16, and they did that without the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.
Guardiola was eventually rewarded for taking a bold approach to a difficult fixture, and while City still have work to do in order to secure top spot in their group, it effectively frees up the club to place more focus on their upcoming games on the domestic scene.
City play a total of nine fixtures in all competitions throughout December, and Guardiola will be eager for his side to maintain their momentum ahead of the clash with Chelsea on December 8.
Twelve wins and two draws have come from City’s last 14 outings, with 44 goals and 10 clean sheets also being registered during that spell, but Guardiola will be aware that his team cannot afford to lower their standards over such a hectic period of games.
Raheem Sterling continues to be City’s main man this season, with eight goals and six assists coming from 16 outings in the top flight and Champions League, but Leroy Sane has started to match the Englishman after a match-winning display at West Ham United last weekend.
City deserved their victory at the London Stadium, but the 4-0 scoreline did not tell the whole story, with the Hammers squandering several chances to at least trouble their opponents.
That will at least ensure that Guardiola warns his side of showing any complacency against a team in Bournemouth who can cause problems in the final third, and that may prove beneficial at a time when the club are looking to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.
Man City possible XI: Ederson, Danilo, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Delph, Bernardo, D.Silva, Sane, Aguero.
Bournemouth possible XI: Begovic, Francis, S.Cook, Ake, Ming, Cook, Gosling, Brooks, King, Fraser, Wilson.