Manchester City are in action on the South Coast as they look to return to winning ways after back-to-back 1-1 draws.
Manchester will have a clearer picture of their position in the title race come 5pm but the Blues could be five points off Arsenal when they kick-off at Bournemouth this evening.
Consecutive draws against Nottingham Forest and RB Leipzig in the past week have seen City twice throw away one-goal leads, with the Gunners handed the impetus thanks to their win against Aston Villa and able to pull five points clear with victory at Leicester City.
That being said, defeat at the King Power would hand Pep Guardiola’s side the chance to go top and the City boss will be taking his side to the South Coast with that in mind.
Bournemouth picked up a crucial 1-0 win at Wolves last weekend to take the club out of the relegation zone, having previously won just one of their last 13 in the league, and were thumped 4-0 at the Etihad in the second week of the season.
City return to Premier League action against Bournemouth (Image: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
“Manchester City were not ruthless enough in their two other away games this week, which saw them draw with Forest and RB Leipzig, but I have a feeling things will be different this time.
“City cannot afford another slip-up in the league because if they drop any more points and Arsenal win then the gap grows again and wipes out the work they did when they won at Emirates Stadium this month.
“I don’t see Pep Guardiola’s side coming up short here, though. Bournemouth have been really stubborn in the past few weeks and will make this competitive, but I am backing City to take their chances and get back among the goals.”
Sutton’s prediction: Bournemouth 1-4 City
Paul Merson (Sportskeeda)
“I think Bournemouth did very well last weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers. But I also think this is a bad game for Bournemouth.
“They’ve done well in their last two games. Yet another wow-factor result could be of massive help to them as these results help in dragging other teams down towards the drop zone.
“Manchester City have an extraordinary squad. I will keep on saying it and I will again – they have to win the Champions League.
“If they’ve gone and signed Erling Haaland for that kind of money and not won the Champions League, I don’t think just winning the Premier League equates to success. However, I expect them to go out and get a pretty routine win this weekend as they will not want to lose any more ground to Arsenal.”
Merson’s Prediction: Bournemouth 0-4 City
“Manchester City are still not looking that convincing and they drew 1-1 again against RB Leipzig in the Champions League during the week. I can see them creating as many chances as they did against Forest here, I just can’t see them missing as many.”
Lawrenson’s prediction: Bournemouth 0-3 City
Man City star hints at permanent move, stating ‘everything has an end’ but he ‘might even return’
Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has revealed he “might even return” to the club after his loan spell at Bayern Munich but admitted “everything in life has an end”.
Cancelo couldn’t have hoped for a better spell at a club than his first few seasons at the Etihad. Indeed, after City finished second in the league in his first season, he was part of a back-to-back title-winning side the following two campaigns.
The Portuguese’s role in the side was growing in the first of those triumphant seasons. He played 28 league games in which he scored twice and assisted four times in the first.
The following year he missed just two league games and was a crucial part of the squad, scoring once and assisting eight times.
While this season didn’t see much of a change in his important role – he missed just three league games – a change of system signalled the end of his immediate future at City.
Indeed, Cancelo revealed Pep Guardiola “liked what he saw” from other members of the squad while “playing with a full-back more inside”.
On top of that, he admitted he thought he “deserved to play” and the manager didn’t in the games he missed. As such, he made a loan move to Bayern Munich in January.
Bayern have the opportunity to make that move permanent in the summer for around £61million. And they might well do that given his form – Cancelo has provided assists in two of his five games at the club so far, and has won all but one game.
While he’s enjoying a successful period away from City, he’s got one eye on their results, given his healthy relationship with a lot of the players.
“Will I still celebrate an English title with City? I hope so. I created a second family there,” he told O Jogo.
“Bernardo [Silva] has become one of my best friends, he is the person I miss the most there. He was my psychologist. When something didn’t go so well, he was the one to talk to.
“Ruben [Dias] too, but my relationship with Bernardo is actually very good, even on the field, we had a great connection when we played on the same side.
“He is a person that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Of course, in England I’m rooting for them and I hope they win so that at the end of the season I can be celebrating a title in England and another in Germany.
“City’s group is spectacular, it’s the best I’ve ever worked in, both as a group and personally. I created great friendships.”
Cancelo also hinted at the possibility that he might return to the club, despite also seemingly admitting his time at City might well be coming to its end.
“A spectacular group, I would go to training with great enthusiasm. Everything in life has an end.
“But at the end of the season I might even return, you never know.”
Following his sudden exit in January, it wouldn’t be a surprise if City were fine with him leaving permanently.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk; football365.com
