Man City are in FA Cup action on Sunday, taking on Bournemouth in a quarter final clash on the south coast.
The two teams will meet in front of the ITV cameras for what is now a clash between two teams rivalling for 4th place in the Premier League table.
After Man City’s 2-2 draw with Brighton last time out, Pep Guardiola’s side find themselves in 5th place of the table and a point behind Chelsea in 4th, compared to the Cherries in 10th and five points off 4th.
Since Man City’s 5-1 defeat at Arsenal, they’ve won just four of nine games in all competitions, winning only one of their last four in the league. Bournemouth meanwhile have won just one of their last five in all competitions and also one of their last four in he league, losing 2-1 at home to Brentford before the break.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Man City team news vs Bournemouth as Pep faces Ederson wait
The main bit of team news going into this game concerns goalkeeper Ederson. Pep says the Brazilian, who didn’t feature for his country in the international break, has trained the last two days, failing to confirm however whether it would be Ederson or Stefan Ortega to face Bournemouth.
Elsewhere, Pep looks set to have Josko Gvardiol despite an injury concern with Croatia during the break, whereas the likes of John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji remain sidelined.
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Oscar Bobb has again been pictured in training though Pep is likely to name a strong side in a bid to win some kind of silverware this season.
Man City predicted lineup to face Bournemouth
Given Ederson’s patchy injury record, Pep may not want to take any chances with the goalkeeper, and name the capable Ortega in goal. Ederson was criticised for his last performance and so a change may be necessary anyway.
The case could be the same for Gvardiol too, though that would prompt a bit of a selection headache at left-back with Gvardiol the only out and out left-back. Expect Pep to name him in the XI even if he’s not 100%.
Elsewhere though we could see a largely unchanged side. Pep has options to rotate but his XI against Brighton seemed like his strongest based on form, with Ilkay Gundogan and Nico in the middle of the pitch.
Ahead of them expect Omar Marmoush in the 10 role, Jeremy Doku on the left keeping Phil Foden out the side after his poor performance for England against Albania, and then Savinho on the right, with Erling Haaland leading the line…
Here’s how we think Man City will line up against Bournemouth on Sunday…