Bournemouth vs Man City Prediction: Cherries can frustrate visitors

| February 23 |

2 mins read

Manchester City will look to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table when they travel to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday evening (17:30) to take on Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola's side cruised to a 6-1 victory the last time the sides met, and the Cherries are yet to taste victory in the league in 2024.

Bournemouth vs Man City Prediction

Man City to win and both teams to score @ 8/5
Dominic Solanke to score anytime @ 15/8

Team News

James Hill, Philip Billing, Tyler Adams, Ryan Fredericks and Max Aarons are ruled out for the hosts, while Romain Favre is a doubt after suffering from illness.

Joskvo Gvardiol and Jack Grealish are unavailable for City, but Guardiola has an otherwise fully-fit squad to pick from.

Match Odds

Bournemouth are 6/1 to claim a famous three points, the draw is 4/1 and a City win can be backed at 2/5.

Both teams to score is priced up at 4/6, and a repeat of City's 6-1 win in the reverse fixture is currently 66/1.

Man City to win and both teams to score @ 8/5

City put in a much-improved defensive display in their 1-0 victory over Brentford in midweek, but their defence has been far from watertight this season.

Bournemouth will pose a threat here, as they've netted in 19 of their last 20 outings, and I struggle to see City running riot like they did in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium.

The Cherries had an upturn in form heading into the festive period, in a run that saw them pick up 22 points from a possible 29, recording wins over Man Utd and Newcastle. However, they're currently winless in the league in 2024, and Liverpool recently stuck four goals past them, suggesting that the defensive vulnerabilities we saw earlier in the campaign are still present.

I suspect Bournemouth can make a game of this and get on the scoresheet, but City should have enough quality to take the three points.