Man City vs Bournemouth Odds
| Man City Odds | -1000 |
| Bournemouth Odds | +1800 |
| Draw | +1000 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -333 / +250 |
Man City will be hosting Andoni Iraola’s struggling Bournemouth side as they will be making the trip to the Etihad this Saturday.
City currently sit third in the league on 24 points and are coming off back-to-back 4.0+ xG matches. After a shaky couple of weeks, City have seemed to find their normal form, which should be a scary sight for the rest of the Premier League.
Bournemouth sit on the opposite end of the table in 17th with just six points at the moment. Iraola’s pressing style of play has not worked out due to the players he has at his disposal currently. However, he needs to find a way to pick up some points or he will be gone soon.
Let’s get into this lopsided match and my Man City vs Bournemouth prediction.
Man City
After going three out of four matches of less than 1 xG, City have now put together two straight 4 xG matches against Young Boys and Manchester United. It was very important for City to get back to their normal ways because of how competitive the league is towards the top of the table right now.
Getting Rodri back after his suspension has been so crucial in creating these chances, as well as Foden, Grealish, Doku and Foden all hitting their stride at the same time. They have so much quality in this side that when they create these chances they are bound to finish them at some point.
Álvarez, Rodri, Haaland, Bernardo, Doku and Ake are all over-performing their xG. That is six of their starting 11 all scoring more goals than anticipated. They are such good finishers and so good in possession. And when they do lose the ball, they are so organized and their press is so efficient that they are able to win the ball back almost instantly.
They do have a Champions League match this upcoming mid-week, so I assume they will be playing a rotated lineup. I do not anticipate this to negatively affect them at all as their entire squad is full of immense quality.
They will be scoring goals this weekend and that is one thing I am very confident in. Particularly against this Bournemouth side that has been leaking goals virtually all season.
Bournemouth
There was a sense of optimism coming into this season with the hire of Iraola. He has a very positive way of playing that Bournemouth fans were excited about seeing; however, it has not worked out the way they had hoped up to this point in the season.
Bournemouth love to press high and try to win the ball back in the attacking third. They have proved that they do not know how to play any other way this season and do not have the personnel to effectively play this way.
They have conceded 21 goals this season, the third-most in the league, and have conceded 21.8 xG, the second-highest in the league. It is concerning that they are conceding at such a rapid rate, but even more concerning that they have all been deserved and nothing has changed.
They have conceded less than two goals only three times in their 10 league matches. That is not an encouraging number when you have to play one of the best sides in the world in Manchester City.
The only bright spots of the season so far have been Semenyo, Solanke and Neto. They are the only three players who have over-performed in their positions this season. Make no mistake, Bournemouth have been poor tactically in most of their matches, but the players' lack of quality has done Iraola no good.
Man City vs Bournemouth
Prediction
I really struggle to see a way that Bournemouth get anything out of this match. The only chance I think they have is that City may be playing a weaker side than they typically do. However, a weaker City side is still usually miles better than most teams in this league.
I think that the right play for this one is also the straightforward play – Manchester City -2.5. We have seen it in the past that when City hit their stride, there is almost nothing that will be able to stop them.
I have my number right around where most of the books have this listed, but I like the spot for City and quite frankly have no faith in this Bournemouth side right now.
