Guardiola's side look to extend winning run to 17 league games
Manchester City vs AFC Bournemouth
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 3.00pm, Saturday 23rd December 2017
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Mike Jones Assistants: D Eaton, I Hussin Fourth Official: M Dean
Odds: City 1/8, Draw 10/1, Bournemouth 22/1
Tickets: Sold out
TV: Match of the Day
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Bravo, Ederson, Muric, Adarabioyo, Danilo, Delph, Kompany, Mangala, Otamendi, Walker, De Bruyne, Diaz, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Sane, B Silva, D Silva, Sterling, Toure, Aguero, Jesus
Injured: Mendy, Foden, Stones
Doubtful: Kompany, D Silva
Suspended: None
Form guide: WLWWWD
AFC Bournemouth
Manager: Eddie Howe
Squad (from): Begovic, Boruc, Federici, Cook, Daniels, A Smith, Wilson, Gosling, Surman, Mahoney, Pugh, Cook, Hyndman, Fraser, Ibe, Afobe, King, Mousset
Injured: Arter, Defoe, B Smith, Federici, Mings
Doubtful: King, Daniels
Suspended: None
Form guide: LDDLLL
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Phil Foden will be sidelined for some time after suffering a ligament injury in the midweek Carabou Cup tie with Leicester City.
“He’s [Foden] injured,” revealed Guardiola. “It’s not good. He will not be able to play [against Bournemouth]. We were lucky with Kevin De Bruyne against Spurs, with Phil we were not lucky. It’s a ligament. He’ll be out for a time.”
Club captain Vincent Kompany, however, is close to a return although he is unlikely to be risked tomorrow.
“He’s much better. I think in the next days he will be ready," said Guardiola. “I don’t know if he will be ready for tomorrow. We will speak after the final training session and we will have to see.”
The Blues laboured to victory in the return fixture at the beginning of the season, only securing all three points after Raheem Sterling netted an injury time winner. Guardiola was quick to point out the significance of that victory.
“It was important after the draw against Everton,” he said. “Nobody expected then that we would win 16 games in a row. It was so important and after that we won against Liverpool. You are not always able to win games by a big margin so in that moment it was important.”
City's last home game against Bournemouth ended in a 4-0 victory, with goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan. Overall City have won 9 of the 11 games played against the Cherries, with 2 draws and no defeats.
Predicted line-up: Ederson, Walker, Mangala, Otamendi, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundoagn, De Bruyne, Sane, Sterling, Aguero
Score prediction: City 4 Bournemouth 0