Overview
Manchester City just suffered their first defeat since August and will aim for a strong comeback when welcoming Bournemouth, the team that is flying high in the Premier League this season.
The Cherries are still unbeaten since a 2-4 defeat to Liverpool in the opening round. They entered this week's competition in second place in the rankings after a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
City, meanwhile, missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Arsenal after a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa. That result put them in round 10 with a gap of 6 points over the "Gunners".
Pep Guardiola's team quickly regained their spirit when they came back to defeat Swansea City to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. However, the Spaniard will certainly want his side back on track to win the Premier League, after their 50th Premier League defeat.
This is the first time since 2013 that City have lost three games in nine games, but it is worth noting that they still won the title that season.
The Citizens have a big advantage back at the Etihad, having won 11/14 of their Premier League games in 2025 (D1 L2). In this calendar year, no team has won more or scored more away from home than City (34 points).
After failing to score last weekend, Man City will certainly want to regain their destructive scoring form, especially when they are the team with the most goals in the Premier League before round 10 (17 goals, equal to Chelsea and Tottenham).
However, they have only made an average of 13.7 shots per game, Man City's lowest tally in a single season since 2007 2008 (11.1 shots per game). This is a sign that Guardiola's attack is no longer as overwhelming as in previous years.
The key to Man City's success will be whether Erling Haaland can return in time and continue to shine. The Norwegian striker failed to score for the second time this season in the loss to Aston Villa. That shows how fragile City are lacking the familiar hitting power from him.
Despite often having a hard time against Man City, Andoni Iraola's side are proving that they are not easy to beat and are one of the most difficult teams in the Premier League this season.
Bournemouth's only defeat came in the opening match against Liverpool, when they collapsed in the final minutes with 2 late goals. Since then, The Cherries have gone 8 consecutive matches unbeaten (5 wins, 3 draws) - the longest unbeaten streak in the Premier League this season. They also made the best start in the club's history in the tournament, with 18 points after 9 rounds.
Their biggest hope is Eli Kroupi, a young talent in brilliant form. The 18-year-old has scored in three consecutive Premier League games and is aiming to become only the fourth teenager in the history of four consecutive Premier League games.
Head-to-head record
Man City is holding an absolute advantage every time they face Bournemouth at the Etihad.
The Citizens have won all 8 home matches against this opponent in the Premier League. In the history of the tournament, only Manchester United (16/16 against Luton Town) and City (9/9 against Swansea City) have a 100% home win against an opponent that is more than that.
In the above 8 matches, City scored 31 goals, and scored more than one goal in each match. On the other hand, Bournemouth have only scored 5 goals, and have never scored more than 1 goal in a match at the Etihad.
More broadly, Bournemouth have lost 15 of their 16 Premier League meetings with Man City. The only exception was a 2-1 victory at Vitality - a coincidence, also on November 2 last year.
Score prediction: Man City 3-1 Bournemouth
The match between Man City and Bournemouth takes place at 23:30 on November 2 (Vietnam time).
