Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez to start – Predicted XI: Bournemouth vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City travel to the South Coast to face relegation-stricken Bournemouth on Saturday evening as the Premier League returns following a week of European action.

The Premier League champions are bidding to retain their title in a head-to-head battle with high-flying Arsenal, as their latest challenge takes them on an away trip to struggling Bournemouth – who are yet to find any real momentum under current manager Gary O’Neil.

With just one win since the restart following the World Cup in Qatar, Bournemouth arrive into the game as massive underdogs, and getting a result out of Manchester City would be a real shock to many.

Manchester City however are certainly not in the greatest form themselves, with the blues picking up back-to-back draws in their last couple of outings, both in the Premier League and the Champions League.

City have to step it up if they are to retain the Premier League title in May, with the last two performances being carbon copies of each other – keeping possession in a trademark fashion, but lacking the end product.

Pep Guardiola touched on the lack of ruthlessness in his pre-match press conference ahead of the weekend, stating that he understands Erling Haaland’s frustration when he doesn’t receive the ball.

The Norwegian has 26 goals in 23 Premier League games so far, taking the league by storm since his summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund. Haaland is the focal point of the City attack and is tasked with converting chances, but frustration grows when he isn’t provided with the service.

It has to be a better Manchester City performance this weekend in order to close the gap on Arsenal, and with that being said, here is how we expect Manchester City to line-up against Bournemouth on Saturday evening.

Predicted XI

Despite going through a rough patch, with many supporters seemingly preferring to see Stefan Ortega between the sticks, we expect Ederson to remain in goal.

After a succession of starts for Kyle Walker, we expect a return to the fray for Rico Lewis, who has been side-lined since the away defeat to Spurs earlier this month.

Ruben Dias will all but surely keep his place in the centre of defence, with the Portuguese international returning to action at just the right time for Manchester City, following the injury to John Stones.

Manuel Akanji is expected to partner Dias at the back, as he did in the away tie to RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.

We expect Nathan Ake to return to face his old club this weekend, with the Dutchman considered to be one of the best players in Bournemouth’s history by many fans, and we expect a warm reception for the City mainstay.

Rodrigo is expected to hold his place in defensive-midfield.

We predict club captain Ilkay Gundogan to start, as Kevin De Bruyne only recently returned to training after an illness.

Bernardo Silva is likely to complete the midfield three, as it was in Germany in midweek. The Portuguese midfielder covered a lot of ground and proved why he is such an important asset for Manchester City again.

We expect to see a return for Julian Alvarez in attack for Manchester City. The Argentine sparkles every time he plays, and we predict him to have a key role up front for the blues.

After a disappointing week, we expect Erling Haaland to keep his place and put his frustrations to bed. The goalscoring record speaks for itself, and as long as the service is provided for him, he’ll have no issues getting back to his best.

Jack Grealish is in the best form we have seen from him in a Manchester City shirt, and we expect him to keep his place and complete the attack.

Starting XI: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Ake; Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo; Alvarez, Haaland, Grealish.

Substitutes: Ortega, Walker, Gomez, Phillips, De Bruyne, Perrone, Foden, Mahrez, Palmer.