In a show of just how strong Pep Guardiola’s Man City side are, the Catalan has been able to bench Kevin De Bruyne for the trip to Bournemouth, alongside Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku.
The Cherries have been in reasonable form but they face a City side that know if they emerge with all three points, they’ll be just a point behind leaders, Liverpool.
Man City could move to within a point of Liverpool
For those clubs at the top of the table, to coin a phrase, every game is a final from this point onwards.
Any mis-steps from either City themselves or the clubs around them could have a significant impact on the destination of this season’s title.
Your City side for #BOUMCI ?
XI | Ederson, Akanji, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Nunes, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Grealish, Doku, De Bruyne, Gomez, Bobb, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/7dPdE4ea8W
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 24, 2024
Guardiola is clearly taking no chances, picking Ederson in goal behind a strong back four of Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake.
Midfield has a mixture of power, pace and creativity, with Rodrigo, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic providing a secondary shield when required as well as a supplementary attacking presence.
In attack, Erling Haaland looks ominously back to his best, and with Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva stationed either side of him, Bournemouth are likely to be up against it from the first whistle.