Bournemouth vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How To Watch

Manchester City will travel to the south coast as they take on Bournemouth and look to secure a vital three points for their ongoing title race with Arsenal and Liverpool.

In midweek, City played host to Thomas Frank’s Brentford – a side that, in recent memory, has proven to be a thorn in Pep Guardiola’s side having pulled victories off in both fixtures last season against the treble-winning side.

Granted, the Blues made sure to correct this in both meetings this season, having beaten them in early February 1-3 at the Gtech Community Stadium in west London, as well on Tuesday night.

Their victory over the Bees earlier in the week did not come easily, as Erling Haaland’s solo strike only came in the 78th minute, which capped off what had been a tough game for City in front of goal, having only one of their 11 shots on target make it into the net.

At the time of their victory on Tuesday night, Pep Guardiola’s side had moved to within one point of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, which was nullified with the Red’s dismantling of Luton Town on Wednesday night.

On the other side of Saturday evening’s ticket sit Bournemouth, who have strung together a set of draws in recent memory, helping cement themselves in the middle of the English top-flight table.

Out of their previous five matches, three of which have resulted in draws, having done it against the likes of West Ham and Nottingham Forest, as well as in their last match against Newcastle United.

While they looked to be destined for three points at St. James Park, Matt Richie’s close-quarters strike in stoppage time would rob the Cherries of what would have been their first win in the top flight since Boxing Day.

Fixture Details

Manchester City are set to take on Bournemouth on Saturday 24 February, with kick-off scheduled for 17:30 BST.

Team News

While Kevin De Bruyne‘s return to the pitch has been impactful for his team, he was sat for the Blues’ match earlier in the week, which led to some worries amongst the fanbase. Yet, Pep Guardiola was quick to provide an update on the Belgian, explaining that he wasn’t injured and that his decision was in the best interest of both parties.

“He’s not injured. I don’t know if he’s 100% but I think we took a good decision not to take a risk (against Brentford). We took a decision because he did not feel comfortable.”

The Catalan coach was sure to provide updates on the health of Josko Gvardiol and Jack Grealish with both members of the partnership missing the Citizens’ past two matches.

Grealish has been sidelined due to issues with his calf, while Gvardiol has been out to due ankle ligament issues. Guardiola ensured that both players will miss the match against the Cherries, but that they are getting better.

“This week no but they are closer,” explained the City boss.

Head to Head

In the 14 games that the two sides have played since 2014, Manchester City has dominated AFC Bournemouth, beating them in every meeting regardless of the competition in which the fixture was featured.

Their most recent meeting came earlier on in the season, in which the Sky Blues would take down the Cherries 6-1, with Jeremy Doku, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden, Nathan Ake, and Bernardo Silva making their way onto the scorers sheet, with the Portuguese star netting himself a brace.

Statistics

• Since a run of six wins from seven Premier League games in November and December, Bournemouth have failed to win any of their last six games (D3 L3) and only Burnley (2) have collected fewer points in 2024 so far than the Cherries (3).
• Bournemouth have scored at least once in 15 of their last 16 league matches, with the only exception being a 0-4 home loss to Liverpool last month.

• Manchester City have won each of their last four Premier League away games, as many as they had in their previous 10 on the road combined (D2 L4).

• Manchester City have fallen behind in each of their last six Premier League away games, though have come back to win each of the last four. Only Manchester United (6 in 2020) have won more consecutive away games from behind in the Competition.

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can view Saturday’s match on Sky Sports.

For viewers in the United States, you can view the match on Peacock, with kick-off scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EST.

For fans living elsewhere, you can find the TV listings here!

You can also follow the match on the City Xtra YouTube channel via our live Watchalong show!