Man City v Bournemouth sees the Premier League's best two attackers this season go head-to-head.
This new feature will land on a Friday, and focus on a talking point ahead of the Premier League weekend.
There are a fair few standout stories in the Premier League so far this season.
Liverpool’s drastic drop-off, Arsenal’s fantastic defence, the fact that the promoted teams all seem to be putting up a fierce fight for the first time in several years, not least Sunderland, who are flying high in third place.
But two of the season’s key storylines clash on Sunday when Bournemouth visit the Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City. It is fifth versus second, with the Cherries flying high, just four points behind leaders Arsenal.
And two players in particular are standing out as the Premier League’s most in-form attackers.
Erling Haaland is the Premier League’s leading scorer. He has already plundered 11 goals in the competition and has netted at least twice in his last three home games in the top flight.
Credit: Instagram - @erling
His 12-game scoring streak was ended in last week’s 1-0 loss at Aston Villa, but after a relatively low-key season in 2024-25 — by his extraordinary standards at least — Haaland has hit another level so far this campaign.
Haaland leads the Premier League for goal involvements this term, with 12, but hot on his heels is Bournemouth’s talisman, Antoine Semenyo, with nine.
Semenyo has scored six times and laid on a further three assists. The winger was linked with big moves in the summer, with Tottenham said to be particularly keen, but Bournemouth tied him down to a new deal.
The work Andoni Iraola has done has been exceptional, and for Bournemouth to be performing so well — they have lost just one league game all season, and that was on the opening day against Liverpool — is a testament to the quality coach he is. Indeed, it’s easy to see why some onlookers may think Iraola is the natural successor to Pep Guardiola, whenever the latter does elect to call time on his City tenure.
But keeping Semenyo has been crucial. Whereas Dean Huijsen and Ilya Zabarnyi left for European royalty in Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, Semenyo stayed put, and has taken his game to new heights.
Brilliant for large parts of last season, Semenyo is now playing with the guile, craft and confidence of an elite attacker. The numbers back it up, but so does the eye test.
Credit: Instagram - @antoinesemenyo
He is strong, has pace to burn, can play on either flank or even down the middle, and is fantastic on both feet. Semenyo is, in many ways, the perfect Premier League attacker — built for fast transitions and rugged enough to cope with the physical demands of the competition.
Not to rain on Bournemouth’s parade, but even with Semenyo’s new deal, the Cherries will know that, like Iraola, their star player is one day destined to move onto bigger (perhaps not better) things.
The 25-year-old, signed from Bristol City in 2023 in an excellent example of plucking a player from the second tier, is far from Bournemouth’s only threat, but if they are to end their wait for a Premier League win at Man City on Sunday, then he will no doubt be pivotal to their efforts.
Semenyo’s key metrics (via FBref)
But then we must circle back to Haaland, who has been responsible for 64.7% of Man City’s top-flight goals this season.
City aren’t exactly back at their best — they still, at times, resemble the slow and ponderous City that was so badly exposed for large swathes of last season. But when they play to Haaland’s strengths, with clinical passes in behind or on the counter-attack, they are devastating.
What City are lacking, which still takes some getting used to, is consistency. But in Haaland they have the ultimate example of consistency. He will score goals, and lots of them — it’s just a case of ensuring he has the ammunition.
Sunday’s contest, then, comes with an intriguing sub-plot.
Semenyo, spearheading Bournemouth’s dream start, has a chance to prove just how good he is. The visitors should have space to exploit and will not be afraid of doing so, and the Ghana international could flourish. It will be about keeping his composure when the chances do come.
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He is overperforming his xG (3.76), by 2.24, which is the second-highest xG overperformance in the league, behind Moises Caicedo (2.44), suggesting that his finishing has been beyond what would have been expected based on the chances that have come his way so far — Semenyo’s penchant for a long-range finish will no doubt play into that.
Haaland, for what it’s worth, is the league’s third-highest xG overperformer (+2.08), but it is nothing new to say that his finishing is way above average.
The City star leads the league for xG (8.92), shots on target (21) and shots (37). Impressively, Semenyo ranks fifth for shots on target (11), from 20 attempts in total. He is a consistent threat.
Haaland will, though, be out to get swiftly back on the scoring trail. He will be well rested, too, having been left out against Swansea City in midweek.
But City also need to prove they have not gone from a slick, well-oiled winning machine to a one-man team. Haaland is brutally brilliant, but he can’t do it all on his own. Others need to step up, especially given that the Norway international has only scored one league goal against Bournemouth.
Records are, of course, there to change, and Haaland is used to shattering them, but with this match seeing two of the league’s top-scoring teams, and most influential attacking players, going head-to-head, we could be in for an early-season classic.
Cue the 0-0.
Stats courtesy ofOpta Analyst
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