Manchester City vs Bournemouth – Match preview and team news | OneFootball

Manchester City host Bournemouth in the Premier League just three days after losing the FA Cup final.

City’s season is in danger of derailing completely following their 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday as they face a real fight to qualify for the Uefa Champions League.

After failing to score in consecutive matches, it’s likely that Pep Guardiola will be considering multiple changes to his starting eleven.

Mateo Kovacic missed the final with a knock and the midfielder will be assessed ahead of tonight’s game. Ederson is expected to be reinstated between the sticks while academy graduates Rico Lewis and James McAtee should feature, despite being omitted from the squad entirely on the weekend.

Argentine prospect Claudio Echeverri surprisingly made his debut for the Cityzens against Palace. Before Saturday, the teenager had never even been chosen for a senior matchday squad since arriving in January, but was thrown into the deep end by Guardiola.

Bournemouth can break into the league’s top half by earning a point or more at the Etihad Stadium this evening.

Alex Scott hasn’t travelled after undergoing surgery for a broken jaw. The midfielder was caught by the elbow of Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings last time out.

Scott joins fellow midfielder Ryan Christie on the sidelines, while Dango Ouattara will be assessed after missing the last match with a knock.

Dean Huijsen has only two games left of his Bournemouth career, after Real Madrid activated the Spaniard’s £50 million release clause.

Manchester City vs Bournemouth – Match preview and team news

Form

Manchester City: WWWDL

Manchester City have lost successive FA Cup finals after falling to a slender defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Oliver Glasner’s side were devastating in transition and Eberechi Eze completed a flowing move to win the trophy for the Eagles.

City spurned plenty of chances to level the scoreline. Erling Haaland missed a couple gilt-edged opportunities while Omar Marmoush’s penalty was heroically saved by Dean Henderson.

It was another frustrating afternoon for Pep Guardiola and his players following their goalless draw away to Southampton the previous week.

As it stands, City are in sixth position – with Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa sitting above them by a single point. However, they do have a game in hand on the trio and a win today would propel them into third, and crucially, into the driving seat for Champions League qualification.

Read – Manchester City predicted lineup and team news vs Bournemouth

Bournemouth: WDDWL

Bournemouth’s hopes of qualifying for Europe for the first time were dented last weekend by Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins netted the only goal of the game to end the Cherries’ five game unbeaten run.

They are now five points off Brighton, who occupy eighth place following their 3-2 victory over Premier League champions Liverpool on Monday night. Bournemouth have a game in hand over the Seagulls, but need to win both of their remaining fixtures to stand any chance of surpassing them.

Andoni Iraola’s side have already accumulated their record points total in the Premier League. The south coast outfit have the opportunity to further cement themselves into the club’s history.

What time is kick-off?

The match will kick off at 20:00 BST on Tuesday, 20 May 2025, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England.

Who is the referee?

Thomas Bramall will be the match official. Nick Hopton and Derek Eaton will assist him while Robert Jones will be the fourth official. Paul Tierney is on VAR duty and he will be assisted by Craig Taylor.

Read – Bournemouth predicted lineup ahead of Manchester City clash

What TV channel will Manchester City vs Bournemouth be on?

Manchester City vs Bournemouth will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Go UK and NOW UK.

Predicted Line-ups

Manchester City XI: Ederson, Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Kovacic; Doku, De Bruyne, Marmoush, Haaland.

Bournemouth XI: Arrizabalaga, Araujo, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Adams, Cook; Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson.

Manchester City vs Bournemouth betting odds

Manchester City: 12/25

Draw: 7/2

Bournemouth: 21/4

Read – Man City focused on Gibbs-White with Wirtz ‘too expensive’

Last Meeting: Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City, FA Cup, 30th March 2025

Manchester City advanced into the FA Cup semi-final after producing a comeback win away to Bournemouth.

Erling Haaland issued an early warning to the Cherries as he headed wide from Matheus Nunes’ cross.

City were then awarded a penalty in the 12th minute. From extremely close proximity, Bernardo Silva’s attempted delivery was blocked by the outstretched hand of Tyler Adams.

From a Bournemouth standpoint, justice prevailed. Kepa Arrizabalaga guessed the right way to gather Haaland’s driven kick from 12 yards. It was more penalty anguish for the Norwegian, who had already missed two spot-kicks earlier on in the campaign.

Still shaken by the error, Haaland tried to atone for his mistake with a dinked effort that sailed over the crossbar shortly after.

The hosts were buoyed on by their goalkeeper’s heroics and swiftly compounded City’s misery. Evanilson bundled in the opener on the goal-line after Justin Kluivert showed great endeavour to keep the ball alive.

Pep Guardiola brought on academy product Nico O’Reilly at the break and reaped the rewards of the alteration almost instantly. The versatile Englishman picked out Haaland in the middle, who made no mistake this time with a sliding finish to level the tie.

O’Reilly was also instrumental in the winner just past the hour mark. He delicately poked the ball through to Omar Marmoush and the January signing’s shot squirmed under the body of Arrizabalaga.

City controlled the remainder of the contest to book their spot at Wembley against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.

Read – Guardiola slams Palace time-wasting following FA Cup final defeat

Read More – The last five teams to lift the FA Cup for the first time

See Also – The lowest Premier League finish for every ‘Big Six’ club

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