Bournemouth vs Manchester City

The upcoming Premier League encounter between relegation-battling Bournemouth and title-bidding Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium has all the makings of a lopsided affair.

After going winless in seven consecutive Premier League matches since the restart (D2, L5), Bournemouth toppled fellow bottom-half strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on the road last weekend to steer away from the bottom three. But with only one point separating them from 18th-placed West Ham United at the start of this round, halting a three-game winless home league run is crucial (D2, L1). After overseeing back-to-back home draws in the Premier League, manager Gary O’Neil wouldn’t mind another share of the spoils against a Man City side the ‘Cherries’ have lost to in all 11 previous Premier League H2Hs. Worryingly, though, O’Neil’s charges have netted a league-low three goals since England’s top-flight resumed on Boxing Day, derailing their hopes of defying the odds this weekend.

On the other hand, Manchester City could only manage a 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in midweek as Pep Guardiola refused to make a single substitution at the Red Bull Arena. Back to Premier League duties following an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, the reigning champions are keen to return to winning ways and stay within a two-point distance of leaders Arsenal. But despite boasting a 100% win ratio against Bournemouth in the Premier League, a 200th away victory in the competition is anything but a foregone conclusion. The ‘Citizens’ have managed just one triumph across their last six competitive matches on hostile turf (D2, L3), scoring under 1.5 goals in each failed attempt to win.