Bournemouth face a difficult test against Premier League title-chasing Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium.
Victory could see Bournemouth climb to 12th if Fulham fail to beat Manchester United in a mid-afternoon kick-off, whilst Man City will stay second with a win but move to within one point of Liverpool.
Team News
Roman Faivre is back in contention for Bournemouth after he missed their 2-2 draw at Newcastle due to illness.
Darren Randolph (illness), James Hill (ankle), Max Aarons (muscle), Ryan Fredericks (calf) and Tyler Adams (hamstring) remain absent.
Man City could welcome Kevin De Bruyne back into contention after he was amongst unused substitutes in their midweek win over Brentford, due to minor knocks picked up in their draw against Chelsea last weekend.
Josko Gvardiol (ankle) and Jack Grealish (groin) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Bournemouth host Man City at Vitality Stadium in a 5:30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 24 February, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth have lost all 13 previous Premier League meetings against Man City (L13).
- Man City have won all six previous Premier League visits to Bournemouth (W6).
- City’s Phil Foden has scored in each of his last four appearances against Bournemouth in all competitions (W4).
- Bournemouth have scored first in three of their last four league matches (D3, L1), only failing to do so in a 3-1 loss at Fulham.
- Foden has scored four goals in two of his last three away appearances for City in the top-flight.
Prediction
Sat mid-table with a steady eight-point gap to the relegation zone, Bournemouth do look like they can stay up especially if they play with the same attacking spirit and fluidity as they did at Newcastle, albeit with better defending which will be key if they want a result.
Man City meanwhile continued their recent habit of a wasteful end product in their win against Brentford, yet a mixture of clinical finishing and excellent defending saw them through with a clean sheet but they do still have work to do on their goal difference if the title goes to the wire.
Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens however do seem to relish this clash and if they can heat their scoring boots to full power, they should take a comfortable win but Bournemouth will make this difficult and I wouldn’t be surprised if they nick a goal at minimum.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City
Result: Bournemouth 0-1 Manchester City
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