Match report: Manchester City keeps pressure on Arsenal with 4-1 win at Bournemouth
Confirmed starting lineups!
PREVIEW
Manchester City will be favourites when it takes on Bournemouth in a Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
City’s four Premier League titles in the past five seasons have been built on putting together a long streak of victories at some point in the campaign.
However, the defending champion is still waiting to hit top form this season.
Pep Guardiola’s men appeared to have turned the tide in the title race when they beat Arsenal at the Emirates earlier this month to move to the top of the table.
But they conceded a late goal last week to draw 1-1 against Nottingham Forest after dominating the game, with Chris Wood punishing their profligacy.
Guardiola defends Man City hotshot Haaland
Pep Guardiola insists Erling Haaland is not to blame for his lack of involvement in Manchester City’s attack because the whole team should take responsibility when it fails to click.
Haaland has scored a remarkable 32 goals so far in his first season with City, but the Norway striker still divides opinions as the Premier League champion lacks its previous fluency with him in the side.
The 22-year-old failed to net in disappointing draws against Nottingham Forest and Leipzig over the past week.
However, City boss Guardiola rubbished suggestions that Haaland’s low number of touches per match was having an impact on his overall contribution.
“It is our fault, not Erling’s. Erling has been impressive all season,” Guardiola said Friday on the eve of City’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
“It’s not metrics, I don’t need metrics to know. When I finish the game, one second later I know if he has been involved or not and who should be more involved or not.”
Guardiola, whose side is two points behind Premier League leader Arsenal, admitted his team have to improve to help Haaland’s development at City.
“Striker is the most difficult position in the world because they have two players focused on him and Erling has more,” he added. “It’s not easy to do that.
“I would like to see in my career here our other strikers like Sergio (Aguero) or Gabriel (Jesus) when they played proper striker not false nine how many times did they touch the ball?
“It’s not about having the ball, striker. Our process is more. It’s fine. I am frustrated too. You are frustrated too in your life sometimes isn’t it? Happiness is overestimated.”
City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is a doubt for the Bournemouth clash on Saturday after missing the Champions League draw at Leipzig on Wednesday due to illness.
Guardiola said his players, in the middle of a run of five away games, were feeling the strain.
“Now it is a question to consider because our fatigue is there, definitely, but we have to take energy from I don’t know where, but we have to do it,” he said.
When and where does the Bournemouth vs Manchester City Premier League match kick-off?
The Bournemouth vs Manchester City Premier League match kicks off at 11:00 PM IST, February 25, at the Vitality Stadium.
How can you watch the Bournemouth vs Manchester City Premier League match?
The Bournemouth vs Manchester City Premier League match will be live telecasted on the Star Sports Network. The match will also be live streamed on the Disney+Hotstar App and Website.
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