Premier League Quick Preview: Man City Vs Bournemouth

Article By Charlie Mullan Last Updated: Aug 21, 2026 · 2 min read

Premier League Quick Preview: Man City Vs Bournemouth

Two of the nine new managers appointed this summer go head-to-head on Sunday when Marco Rose's Bournemouth travel to Enzo Maresca's Manchester City.

It's the first time City won't have Pep Guardiola in their dugout for the best part of a decade and the pressure will be on Maresca to succeed, but they remain favourites on betting apps to start with a win.

This quick digest match preview will hopefully provide you with enough data to help you create a winning bet builder - the first of many this season.

How Will New Look City Play?

With Guardiola in charge, everyone knew how Manchester City would play and it would be safe to assume Maresca won't change too much, although he won't have former Ballon d'Or winner and World Cup winner Rodri to call on.

He does, however, have Erling Haaland to lead their attack and if the Norwegian scores a hat-trick, he will join Mo Salah as the league's joint leading scorer in the opening weekend.

Fresh from scoring seven times at the World Cup, Haaland has scored in all four of City's openers since he joined, including two in their 4-0 win at Wolves 12 months ago.

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Goals Have Been A Trend

Both teams to score has been a winning bet in each of the last five meetings between these two sides since the start of the 2024/25 season.

Bournemouth wins are rare, with the only one in the Premier League coming at the Vitality Stadium in November 2024 when Evanilson scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

City needed a Haaland equaliser in the 90th minutes to rescue a point in their last meeting with the Cherries in May.

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Hot Streaks & Stats:

City have failed to score in just one of their last 27 competitive matches.
City’s last four managers all won their first Premier League game in charge.
Bournemouth have won just two of their nine Premier League openers (D3, L4).
Bournemouth logged the fourth-most shots on target in the Premier League last season (178).

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