Manchester City playmaker Phil Foden has a case to return to the starting lineup for Tuesday's Premier League showdown with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, where the title race could be settled once and for all.
Despite providing two assists in a 3-0 beating of Crystal Palace last week, the England international was snubbed by Pep Guardiola for the FA Cup final on Saturday, when Omar Marmoush was given the nod alongside Erling Haaland.
However, Marmoush failed to make the desired impact up front and was hauled off at half time, although Rayan Cherki was preferred over Foden to step in for the Egyptian as Man City scraped a 1-0 victory over Chelsea.
Cherki is therefore first in line to replace Marmoush in the starting lineup at the Vitality Stadium, but the Frenchman does not boast Foden's remarkable record in this particular fixture, even if the latter has admittedly been playing in sky blue for several more seasons.
Ahead of Tuesday's fixture, Sports Mole takes a deeper dive into Foden's previous performances against Bournemouth - one of the attacker's favourite opponents.
Phil Foden's record vs. Bournemouth
Played: 9
Won: 8
Drawn: 0
Lost: 1
Goals: 5
Assists: 4
Phil Foden has faced Bournemouth competitively a total of nine times, including seven meetings in the Premier League and one in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, and Manchester City have come away victorious on eight occasions.
The versatile midfielder has recorded five goals and four assists for Pep Guardiola's side in his eight games against the Cherries; only against Brighton & Hove Albion (nine - eight goals, one assist) and Manchester United (eight - seven goals, one assist) has he directly been involved in more goals against a single opponent in his career.
Foden drew a blank in front of goal in his first-ever meeting with Bournemouth as a 20-year-old in July 2020 when Man City secured a 2-1 home win in the Premier League, but he has since scored and/or assisted in six of his last seven encounters with the Cherries.
Man City's No.47 produced a man-of-the-match display in a 2-1 EFL Cup third-round win at home to Bournemouth in September 2020, setting up debutant Liam Delap before stabbing home a late winner.
In the 2022-23 season, Foden also scored one and assisted one in both home and away Premier League encounters with the Cherries, assisting City's second goal and then scoring their third in a 4-0 home win and a 4-1 away victory.
The following campaign, a standout Player of the Year season for the midfielder, Foden scored in a thumping 6-1 home win over Bournemouth, before netting the decisive goal in a narrow 1-0 away success in February 2024.
However, Foden was unable to make the net ripple in his most recent appearance against Bournemouth in November 2024 when Man City suffered a 2-1 away defeat in the Premier League, or in the 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final success a few months later.
The Englishman bagged his customary contribution against Bournemouth in November 2025, though, providing an assist for Nico O'Reilly in a 3-1 Premier League success.