Overview
After 10 years of success under Pep Guardiola, Man City has had a big change from this season when Enzo Maresca took over. Inheriting a huge legacy from his predecessor poses a major challenge for the Italian strategist.
Man City won the FA Cup and League Cup last season. However, in the Premier League, they were far behind Arsenal. At the beginning of the season, Arsenal continued to defeat Man City 3-0 in the English Super Cup, causing Enzo Maresca to have an unsatisfactory debut.
Now, Man City's focus will be on the match against Bournemouth at home at the Etihad. In terms of positive aspects, all four most recent coaches of Man City have won in their first match leading them in the Premier League, only Mark Hughes was the last to taste defeat in August 2008 (lost to Aston Villa 2-4).
In addition, Man "xanh" has also won the opening match of the Premier League in 14/15 recent seasons, except for the 0-1 defeat to Tottenham in the 2021-2022 season. Besides, they also have an extremely good head-to-head record against Bournemouth at home, when they have won against opponents in the last 9 matches in the Premier League, scoring 34 goals and conceding 6 goals.
Like Man City, Bournemouth has also entered a new era under the guidance of new coach Marco Rose, who used to coach RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, succeeding Andoni Iraola - who went to coach Liverpool.
Last season, Bournemouth played very well, finishing in 6th place and only losing 7 matches, a record only behind Arsenal and Man City. Marco Rose hopes to help his team continue to maintain the 18-match unbeaten streak that has lasted since last season (8 wins, 10 draws).
Bournemouth, the team that has recruited three new players this summer, has had a fairly positive pre-season preparation period, winning three out of five friendly matches (1 draw, 1 loss) and scoring 22 goals, including the impressive 10-1 victory over Genoa.
However, Bournemouth has only won the opening match of the Premier League season twice in their last nine appearances (3 draws, 4 losses), defeating Cardiff City in the 2018-2019 season and Aston Villa in the 2022-2023 season. In addition, they have also only won against Man City once in 18 Premier League encounters, with a score of 2-1 at home in November 2024.
Force information
On Man City's side, midfielder Doku will be unable to play due to injury. But Nunes will be eligible to play after missing the match against Arsenal. Savinho and Omar Marmoush are likely not to participate in the match because they are still in talks to join Tottenham Hotspur.
Without Doku, Enzo Maresca is likely to give Jack Grealish a chance to play on the left wing, and Semenyo to play on the opposite wing. The club's record signing, Elliot Anderson, is preparing to make his Premier League debut for Man City in the central midfielder position, while key striker Erling Haaland will lead the attack.
The Norwegian striker has scored 7 goals in 4 Premier League opening matches in the past and has 22 goals in just 14 matches for Citizens in August.
On Bournemouth' side, their top scorer last season Eli Junior Kroupi is sidelined for a long time due to injury. Ryan Christie is serving a suspension from last season, so Alex Scott and Lewis Cook are expected to play in midfield, while Rayan, Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier will operate in attack.
Expected lineup:
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Anderson, Kovacic, Semenyo, Foden, Grealish, Haaland.
Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert, Cook, Scott, Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson.
The Man City vs Bournemouth match will take place at 8:00 PM on August 23rd (Vietnam time).
