Game Week 11 Predictions: City to beat Bournemouth

Manchester City knows a win will take them to the top of the table until Arsenal and Tottenham play their own games, this leaves Bournemouth in a precarious position. (Photo credit: GOAL)

 Manchester City vs. Bournemouth

Etihad Stadium

4:00pm

There would be five simultaneous fixtures at 4 p.m. across different grounds, but our focus is on this David and Goliath affair at the Etihad Stadium.

The Cityzens are well and truly back in their elements. The way they dismissed their neighbors Manchester United last weekend showed some level of wit, and if Bournemouth doesn’t manage this well, it could be a real hammering.

Andoni Iraola had his employers at the stadium last weekend, and when Burnley took the lead, he must have grabbed his phone to start applying for jobs, but Phil Billing completed the comeback with a long-range lob that sailed over James Trafford in the Burnley goal.

The Cherries would not expect some freebies from the champions; Manchester City will not be generous to Bournemouth, and they will have to earn their stripes throughout the game, with every loss of concentration set to be brutally punished.

Bournemouth gave a good fight in midweek against Liverpool but eventually crashed out of the League Cup to an unbelievable Darwin Nunes strike. They can now focus on the league as their fight for survival gets serious, but this one might be a little too much for them to win.

Wolves beat Manchester City recently, but you can attribute that to the absence of Rodri, who is the glue in the Manchester City midfield. Bournemouth can copy the Wolves template, but will they take their chances when they do get one?

One win in ten games is downright relegation form, but you wonder what they will have to do to get anything at all from this game. The Cherries like to be expressive, but they can be wasteful in front of goal; that must not be their story against City on Saturday.

Erling Haaland has scored more goals than the whole of Bournemouth this season, and he will be interested in more when the game kicks off. The trio of Dominic Solanke, Semenyo, and Justin Kluivert have to start scoring consistently, or they will have to mix it with the boys in the red zone.

City does have a game in midweek in the Champions League, but they’re in the driving seat as expected; they have absolutely nothing to worry about at this stage, and in all honesty, it’s not a question of whether they will beat Bournemouth; it’s a case of by how many goals?

Verdict: City to win