Manchester City vs Bournemouth – News and Probable Lineups

The Premier League’s post-Pep Guardiola chapter commences for Manchester City on Sunday as Enzo Maresca’s team welcomes Bournemouth to the Etihad Stadium for their first match of the 2026-27 season.

In their latest encounter at the Vitality Stadium in May, the Citizens battled to a 1-1 draw against the Cherries, a result that sealed Arsenal’s position as champions of the top flight.

Match overview

Following a decade of triumphs under Guardiola, Enzo Maresca now confronts the enormous task of preserving a winning mentality at Manchester City while aiming to lead the squad in their quest to reclaim the Premier League title after a two-season hiatus.

At 46 years old, the former Chelsea manager is enthusiastic about the challenge at such a “huge organisation” and is “confident” that his squad can “achieve something significant” this season, even though numerous players including Bernardo Silva, Rodri, and John Stones have departed during the summer transfer window.

Last season, Manchester City clinched the FA Cup and EFL Cup, but they have fallen behind newly risen rivals Arsenal in the league standings and suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Gunners in last weekend’s Community Shield, marking an unwanted start for Maresca as head coach.

On a brighter note, the last four managers at Manchester City have won their inaugural Premier League match, with Mark Hughes being the last to face defeat back in August 2008 (4-2 to Aston Villa).

The eight-time champions enter Sunday’s fixture having claimed victory in 14 of their last 15 season-opening matches, with the sole exception being a 1-0 loss to Tottenham in 2021-22. Interestingly, Tottenham was the only team to achieve success at Manchester City in the league last season before Aston Villa won 2-1 during Guardiola’s final game at the club.

Since May 2021, Manchester City has not experienced consecutive losses at home in league play, yet they can be optimistic about their chances this weekend given their perfect home record of nine wins against Bournemouth, scoring a total of 34 goals while conceding just 6, averaging 3.8 goals per game.

Similarly, Bournemouth is entering a new chapter with Marco Rose as their head coach, taking over from Andoni Iraola at the Vitality Stadium.

The 49-year-old German inherits a buoyant Cherries team that recently achieved a historic sixth-place finish in the Premier League, suffering only seven defeats across 38 matches—an impressive record only surpassed by champions Arsenal (five) and Manchester City (six).

Rose embarks on his first season in England with the advantage of an outstanding 18-match unbeaten league streak carried over from the previous season (W8 D10). However, none of the past four managers who made their Premier League debuts against Manchester City have secured a victory (D1 L3). The most recent among them managed to earn a draw, as Calum McFarlane’s Chelsea played out a 1-1 stalemate at the Etihad in January.

Bournemouth, having signed three new players during the summer, enjoyed a generally successful pre-season with three wins out of five friendlies (D1 L1), scoring an impressive total of 22 goals, highlighted by a remarkable 10-1 victory against Genoa.

Nonetheless, the Cherries have managed to win their opening match of the Premier League season only twice in nine attempts (D3 L4), claiming victories against Cardiff City in 2018-19 and Aston Villa in 2022-23. Additionally, they have recorded only one win over Manchester City in 18 Premier League encounters (D1 L16), with their sole victory being a 2-1 win at home in November 2024.

Team News

Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is set to miss two to three weeks due to a calf injury, while Savinho and likely Omar Marmoush are absent as they negotiate transfers to Tottenham Hotspur.

Matheus Nunes, however, is fit for selection after sitting out the Community Shield loss due to a minor muscle issue and could come in for Abdukodir Khusanov at right-back, possibly joining Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, and Nico O’Reilly in a four-man defense.

With first-choice winger Doku sidelined and City lacking options on the flanks, Maresca may opt to give Jack Grealish a surprise start, which would be over 600 days since his last appearance in the starting XI, while ex-Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo is anticipated to start on the right flank.

Club-record signing Elliot Anderson is poised to make his Premier League debut for City as a central midfielder, while star forward Erling Haaland is expected to spearhead the attack; the Norwegian has netted seven goals in just four opening-weekend Premier League fixtures and has scored 22 times in a mere 14 matches for the Citizens in August.

In contrast, Bournemouth will be without last season’s leading scorer Eli Junior Kroupi (foot), who is ruled out for an extended period, while Amine Adli (calf), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee), Julian Araujo (thigh), David Brooks, and Julio Soler (both unspecified) will also miss out.

Ryan Christie is serving a suspension from the previous season, thus Alex Scott and Lewis Cook are expected to fill the central midfield roles, while Rayan, Justin Kluivert, and Marcus Tavernier will each contribute in the offensive third.

New signings Alvaro Rodriguez and Juanlu Sanchez, together with Tyler Adams, have all resumed team training, but Rose has stated that some of them “require a little more loading in training to be an option” for the trip to the Etihad.

However, center-back Antonio Silva, a £25.7m summer recruit from Benfica, is set to debut in the Premier League, pairing with James Hill at the heart of the defense.

Manchester City probable starting XI:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guardiol, O’Reilly; Anderson, Kovacic; Semenyo, Foden, Grealish; Haaland

Bournemouth probable starting XI:

Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert; Cook, Scott; Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evalinson

With a number of high-profile departures in recent weeks, Manchester City’s squad appears surprisingly thin as they prepare for their season opener, and facing Rose’s high-energy Bournemouth side will undoubtedly be a challenging task for the Citizens.

Still, if prolific scorer Haaland can start the season strong once more in attack, the hosts should have the finishing power necessary to secure all three points and give Maresca a winning start.