Manchester will have a clearer picture of their position in the title race from 5pm, but the Blues could be five points behind Arsenal when they kick off at Bournemouth tonight.
Back-to-back draws against Nottingham Forest and RB Leipzig in the last week have seen City twice blow one-goal leads, and the Gunners built momentum with their win against Aston Villa and were able to take a five-point lead with victory at Leicester City.
That said, defeat at the King Power would give Pep Guardiola’s side a chance to come out on top and the city boss will take his side to the south coast with that in mind.
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Bournemouth scored a crucial 1-0 win at Wolves last weekend to lift the club out of the relegation zone, having previously won just one of their last 13 in the league, and were beaten 4-0 at the Etihad in the second week of the season.
Chris Sutton (BBC)
“Manchester City weren’t ruthless enough in their other two away games this week, drawing with Forest and RB Leipzig, but I have a feeling things will be different this time.
“City cannot afford another slide in the league because if they lose more points and Arsenal win, the gap widens again and wipes out the job they did when they won at Emirates Stadium this month.
“However, I don’t see Pep Guardiola’s side coming up short here. Bournemouth have been very stubborn in recent weeks and will make this competitive, but I’m rooting for City to take their chances and get back in the goals. “.
Sutton’s prediction: Bournemouth 1-4 City
Paul Merson (Sportskeeda)
“I think Bournemouth did very well last weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers. But I also think this is a bad game for Bournemouth.
“They have done well in their last two games. Another surprising result could be of great help to them as these results help drag other teams towards the drop zone.
“Manchester City have an extraordinary team. I’ll keep saying it and I’ll do it again: they have to win the Champions League.”
“If they went and signed Erling Haaland for that kind of money and didn’t win the Champions League, I don’t think just winning the Premier League would equate to success. I do expect them to go out there and get a pretty routine win though.” this weekend as they don’t want to lose any more ground to Arsenal.”
Merson’s prediction: Bournemouth 0-4 City
Mark Lawrenson (Paddy Power)
“Manchester City still don’t look quite as convincing and they drew 1-1 again against RB Leipzig in the Champions League earlier in the week. I can see them creating as many chances as they did against Forest here, I just can’t see them failing as many.”
Lawrenson’s prediction: Bournemouth 0-3 City
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