Man City line-up vs Bournemouth predicted as midfield question answered and Nico O'Reilly starts

12 hours ago 5

Manchester City team news ahead of the Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Sunday.

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Manchester City host Bournemouth in the Premier League today chasing a victory that will lift them above their high-flying opponents in the table.

The Cherries have started the season in fine form and sit second, two points and three places better off than Pep Guardiola’s side.

City were beaten at Aston Villa in their last league game but recovered to defeat Swansea City in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Guardiola made 10 alterations for that contest and is set to ring the changes again this weekend.

Gianluigi Donnarumma will return in goal while Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are expected to be paired in the middle of defence. The latter has struggled of late on the left and Nico O’Reilly can return on that side.

Abdukodir Khusanov returned to the fold on Wednesday night following injury but he struggled at Swansea and Matheus Nunes looks the best bet to start at right back.

In midfield, Rodri is back in the squad but unlikely to start, while Mateo Kovacic has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury. The Tijjani Reijnders holding midfield experiment didn’t really work at Villa Park so Nico Gonzalez should be trusted in the centre.

Reijnders can revert to the number eight position with Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku forming the attacking trio.

Erling Haaland is set to start up front having shaken off a knock picked up when colliding with the post at Villa.

City predicted XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Reijnders, Bernardo, Foden, Doku; Haaland

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