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Bournemouth v Man City
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Kick Off: Sunday 30th March at 16:30
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Competition: FA Cup
The standout FA Cup tie of the weekend sees Man City travel to Bournemouth, with the cup competition representing Pep Guardiola’s last chance of winning a trophy this season. The Cherries faced some issues prior to the international break, failing to win any of their last five games across all competitions.
Likewise, Man City are struggling to find that consistency which has seen them dominate English football over the last few seasons. They’ve seen off Plymouth, Leyton Orient and Salford in reaching this stage of the competition, so this represents their first real challenge in the FA Cup this term.
⭐ Bournemouth v Man City Best Bet
Bournemouth have had a high foul average all season. This is a direct result of their aggressive pressing structure, resulting in the Cherries averaging 13.8 fouls committed per game, more than any other side in the Premier League. They committed 11 fouls against Man City in the league meeting between the teams and should post similar numbers here, with Tavernier standing out to make an infringement early on.
Tavernier has committed 23 fouls across his 22 Premier League appearances this season, 15 of these have been starts taking his average to 1.37 fouls committed per 90. Bournemouth’s attackers are always worth watching for fouls, they press from the front with Evanilson (1.39 fouls committed per 90), Semenyo (2.15 fouls committed per 90) and Kluivert (1.75 fouls committed per 90) all posting solid numbers when it comes to committing fouls.
Tavernier is set to line up on the right-hand side of Bournemouth’s attacking quartet, which should see him contest plenty of duels as a result of their press, but he’ll also be tested by Jeremy Doku, who is one of the toughest players to manage in a 1v1 duel. Doku has won 23 fouls across his 20 Premier League appearances this season, 13 of these have been starts taking his average to 1.78 fouls won per 90. Tavernier contested 12 duels and committed a foul in Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Man City earlier in the season.
🟢 Bournemouth v Man City #WhatOddsPaddy Tip
Justin Kluivert is averaging 1.29 shots on target per 90 in the Premier League this season and found the target twice in the league meeting between the sides. Erling Haaland also found the target twice in that game and is averaging 2.10 shots on target per 90 in the league.
Omar Marmoush has been bright in his brief cameos for Man City so far this season, he can be a threat playing just in behind Erling Haaland and has found the target six times across his seven appearances in the Premier League so far (1.12 per 90).
Man City racked up 10 corners in the league meeting between these sides whilst Bournemouth fell just one corner short of this line in registering three corners in that encounter. Bournemouth are averaging 6.00 corners per game at the Vitality Stadium this season, whilst City are averaging 6.07 corners per game across their 15 away trips in the league.
The last aspect of this selection should come down to Man City, Bournemouth have collected 74 yellow cards in the Premier League this season with only Chelsea (75) and Southampton (79) being cautioned more frequently.
Bournemouth picked up two yellow cards in the league meeting between these sides and regularly test the referee’s patience with their aggressive approach off the ball. City pick up far fewer cautions than their opponents here (48), but could be roped into a battle in this knockout tie with the extra factor of this being the last possible avenue to silverware for Man City sure to play a part.
👕 Bournemouth v Man City Predicted XI
🔍 Bournemouth v Man City Players to Watch
⚫ Justin Kluivert
Kluivert has been Bournemouth’s standout attacking player this season, registering 18 goal contributions across his 28 Premier League appearances whilst averaging 1.29 shots on target per 90. He’s had three shots on target across his 146 minutes in the FA Cup this season (1.85 per 90), also returning two goal contributions in the cup competition.
Evanilson is trusted for his work off the ball in helping Bournemouth establish an intense press, which allows Kluivert space to have shots on goal. Kluivert is on penalties for Bournemouth and enters this game with momentum after impressing for the Netherlands during the international break. Kluivert had three shots, with two of these attempts finding the target in the league meeting between these sides at the Vitality Stadium.
🔵 Erling Haaland
Haaland had five shots in the league meeting between the sides, with two of these attempts finding the target. He also hit the woodwork from close range and was unlucky not to find the back of the net, backed up by his xG (0.88). Haaland had two shots on target in just 31 minutes against Plymouth in the last round of the FA Cup and has a very solid record in the Premier League this season.
He has had 58 shots on target across his 28 Premier League appearances this term (2.10 per 90). No player has had more shots on target than the 24-year-old in the Premier League this season. Haaland scored in both games for Norway over the international break, having at least two shots on target in each of these games, meaning that he enters this game with some recent momentum. Despite City’s struggles this season, Haaland has stayed consistent in front of goal and should be able to live up to his league average here.
📂 Bournemouth v Man City Cheat Sheet
Andy’s Bet Club is the best place for Football Betting Predictions. We offer a huge range of FA Cup Bet Builder Tips covering a full range of punting plans.
For more coverage of this weekend’s FA Cup action, check out our Preston v Aston Villa Betting Tips and our Preston v Aston Villa Betting Preview. You can find all of Andy’s Football Tips here, as well as Napoli v AC Milan Betting Predictions and Real Betis v Sevilla Bet Builder Tips.
💻 Bournemouth v Man City Form and Tactics
Bournemouth have faltered slightly after a very strong start to the year, they’re without a win in their last five games across all competitions, which is a run that has included three defeats. They reached this stage of the competition by seeing off West Brom, Everton and Wolves, but the quarter final represents their toughest challenge yet.
Bournemouth line up in a 4-2-3-1 shape with an emphasis on their work off the ball. They press with direction and intensity, aided by the tightness of the pitch at the Vitality Stadium which sees them put opposition sides under constant pressure and force mistakes. They’ll have plenty of scope to do this against a Man City side that simply cannot function without dominating the ball.
A key aspect of Andoni Iraola’s style is ensuring that some end product comes as a result of the work they do off the ball, this does not necessarily mean finding the back of the net on the back of every pressure in the final third, but Iraola becomes visibly irked when his side don’t at least have an attempt on goal after winning the ball back high up the pitch. This is evident in their shot on target numbers this season, only Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City are averaging more shots on target per game in the Premier League than the Cherries (5.8)
It’s really difficult to predict what City side turn up here, this competition represents their last chance of lifting silverware this campaign and judging by the teams left in the competition, you get the feeling that Pep Guardiola’s side will be disappointed if they don’t at least reach the final with many of the heavyweights already out of the tournament.
City were on a patchy run of form just before the international break, failing to win against Nottingham Forest and Brighton in their two games before the break and still have a whole host of injuries to deal with, particularly at the back. Stones, Ake, Akanji and even Ederson are all doubts for this game, which will encourage Bournemouth in the final third.
🏁 Bournemouth v Man City Ref Watch
- Referee: Stuart Attwell
| Average Cards (Y / R) | 3.80 / 0.10 |
| Fouls Given | 21.05 |
| Penalties | 0.10 |
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* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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