Skipper De Bruyne starts Etihad farewell game against Bournemouth | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne will start his Etihad farewell match and also skippers the team against Bournemouth.

Tonight marks De Bruyne’s final home game for City before leaving for pastures new this summer.

KDB has been in the first XI for the last six Premier League matches as well as playing over 100 minutes in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace this past weekend.

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Three days after that cruel Wembley loss, the boss has elected to give the 33-year-old  an ideal opportunity to bring down the curtain on a phenomenal spell at the Etihad against the Cherries.

The manager has made four changes for the vital 20:00 (UK) encounter with Andoni Iraola side.

Ederson, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan come into the side for Stefan Ortega Moreno, Nico O'Reilly, Jeremy Doku and Savinho for the penultimate game of the 2024/25 season, with victory keenly sought after by the Blues.

In fantastic news, Rodri makes a hugely welcome return to the matchday squad.

The Spanish Ballon d’Or is named on the bench and is involved after eight months out.

He hasn’t seen action since coming off in September 2024’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad, an issue that was eventually identified as an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

City are currently sixth in the table but a win from this game in hand, accrued due to our involvement in the Wembley showpiece on Saturday, would see us up into third with the top five teams qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

TEAM NEWS

CITY XI: Ederson, Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Marmoush, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Ake, Grealish, Doku, Nico, Rodri, Foden, Bobb, O'Reilly

BOURNEMOUTH XI: Kepa, J. Araujo, Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Kerkez, Cook (C), Adams, Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson

Subs: Dennis, Senesi, Brooks, Smith, Soler, Jebbison, Silcott-Duberry, Akinmboni, Winterburn

TACTICS

Ederson starts in goal and will be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan will aim to dominate the battle ground of midfield with captain Kevin De Bruyne offering more attacking impetus to the champions.

Up top, Bernardo Silva, Omar Marmoush and Erling Haaland will aim to do damage to the Cherries backline.

King Kev!

It’s hard to find the words…

But we shall.

Just as Kevin De Bruyne, ever the professional, will find the strength to focus on the task in hand this evening amidst the high emotion felt all around the Etihad.

The task? Simple to articulate. Difficult to achieve. Three points against Bournemouth to put us a tantalising step closer to Champions League football next season.

The emotion? Saying a final goodbye to his adoring public.

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He’s already basked in the glow of a magnificent mural created in his honour this week. Even the sun came out as it was unveiled. The universe surely knew.

And then on his way into the stadium he’ll be presented with a matchday programme - a special edition no less in his honour. And he’ll be serenaded no question with rendition after rendition of ‘Ohh Kevin De Bruyne’ as our fans let him know what he means to them. And then there’ll be the post-match presentation lined up to celebrate a sky blue career we’ve all marvelled at.

In spite of all this pomp and ceremony, KDB - an ‘old school football man’ as he describes himself - will just want one thing tonight - a win to help his beloved City in the quest for UCL football for a 15th successive season.

And perhaps that’s what his legacy will truly be.

Not the eyes-deceive-you passes, the other worldly goals or the elevator of seismic standards in the dressing room. Just the simple desire to win football matches and then get back home to his wife and kids, who’ll be cheering him on tonight.

Hopefully he’ll be able to reflect this evening on a good performance and good result but also afford himself the opportunity to wonder a little at a City career that will be remembered forevermore.

MATCH STATS

-Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in seven goals in his nine Premier League starts against Bournemouth (3 goals, 4 assists). If he plays, this will be his 142nd, and likely final, league appearance at the Etihad Stadium, with only David Silva (160) playing more at the ground in the top-flight.

-City have won all seven of our Premier League home games against Bournemouth – only Arsenal (10 vs Stoke) and Manchester United (8 vs Wigan) have a better 100% home win rate against an opponent in the competition.

-Bournemouth won the reverse fixture against City 2-1 in November, having been winless in their first 20 league meetings with the Blues beforehand (D2 L18).

-City have won our final home league game in 10 of the last 11 seasons (D1), including each of the last eight. Our last defeat came in the 2012/13 campaign against Norwich (2-3).

-Bournemouth have lost their final away league game in both of the last two seasons, last doing so in three consecutive campaigns between 1989/90 and 1991/92.

-Bournemouth have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League away games (W6 D5), going down 2-1 at Brighton in February.

-Bournemouth have had more shot-ending high turnovers than any other side in the Premier League this season (65). However, City have faced fewer shots from high turnovers than any other side in the competition this term (28).

-City have scored 13 goals from outside the box in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. However, Bournemouth have conceded just two goals from distance, fewer than anyone else.

-Evanilson has scored six goals in his last nine Premier League away starts for Bournemouth, including five in his last five. However, all six goals in this time have come in games played in London.