This Premier League match should be an exciting affair as two of the division’s more attacking sides come head-to-head.
Bournemouth have had a poor start to their Premier League season and are yet to pick up a single point in their first two outings. However, they managed to bring some confidence back to the side in midweek as they beat Birmingham City in the League Cup.
Although the Cherries are generally known for their attacking mentality, they are still yet to score a Premier League goal this season. It will be interesting to see if manager Eddie Howe brings in some of the squad players who performed so well on Tuesday night in order to improve their goalscoring record. Bournemouth do certainly need to improve in the final third as they do not have the defensive resilience to rely on. This is demonstrated by the fact that they conceded 67 goals last term – the worst record in the top 14 – and have so far failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their competitive outings this campaign.
Howe’s men may have lost their opening home match of the season last week, however, they will take hope from the fact they were pretty good on home turf in the 2016/17 season with 31 points taken from 19 games – 10th best. Having said that, they have an awful record against Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium with zero points taken from a possible 12.
Despite spending a lot of money over the summer, Manchester City have not had the good start that many expected – a narrow 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in their opener before drawing 1-1 at home to Everton on Monday night.
City have one of the most frightening attacks not only in England but also in Europe. However, their current Premier League goal total of three is the second-lowest in the top five. Having said that, they will fancy their chances against a Bournemouth backline who they have scored 15 times against in four top flight matches. Defensively, they do look more solid than last term but there are still a lot of questions marks – particularly at centre half.
Pep Guardiola’s side were actually far better on their travels than they were on home soil last season – City had the second-best away record but only the sixth-best home record in the division. Their away form towards the end of the last campaign was excellent and that win down at Brighton in their first match of the season means that City have now won three of their last four Premier League matches.
Guardiola’s men are the clear favourites here and I expect them to come out on top here. Although they are not scoring too many goals at the moment, I imagine they will find the back of the net a few times against a Bournemouth side with a very questionable defence. Manchester City to Score Over 2.5 Goals Total is priced at a profitable 111/100. It is certainly worth mentioning that this bet would have won in three of the four Premier League meetings between these two.