Manchester City have looked impressive under former-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola in the Premier League so far this season. Somehow the Catalan One seems to have added something extra to an already tasty attacking blend at Eastlands.
This weekend the Citizens welcome Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth to Etihad Stadium and it is difficult to see the game finishing goalless that’s for sure.
The amount of goals scored at City’s home ground in recent seasons has been simply incredible. There have been over two goals scored at the Etihad Stadium in 29 of the last 31 Premier League games.
City’s frightening attacking options is a major part of those stats. Even without the suspended Argentinian superstar Sergio Aguero, the Citizens have some potent attacking weapons in their armoury.
The attacking midfield quartet of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nolito just cries out major attacking threat. That is without even mentioning young Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who has made the step-up to the City first team in almost seamless fashion in the past few seasons.
It would be a massive surprise if City did not rack up the goals at home with such good attacking players available to boss Pep Guardiola. The Catalan boss produces teams that are prolific scorers of goals.
Add to City’s attacking threat the fact that they have not exactly been rock solid defensive in recent months and it all spells goals, goals and more goals in City games. The introduction of Claudio Bravo in goal has just seemed to add to the threat of City conceding goals, instead of helping City keep the goals out.
The 33-year-old was decent enough at Barcelona, but his jittery derby display against arch-rivals Manchester United suggests that the Chilean international may take a while to get accustomed to life in the English top-flight and could be a weak link for opposition teams to exploit.
Bournemouth are unlikely to be the sort of opposition to rough the Chilean goalkeeper up like some of the Premier League’s more nefarious teams, but if they can I am sure Eddie Howe will be looking to unsettle the experienced ‘keeper in some way.
It does not take a genius to work out that City will score goals, that’s what they do, but they also have a habit of letting silly goals in too. To that end, the both teams to score bet could be cracking value in this clash.
The Cherries have not exactly been prolific in the Premier League of late, having found the net just three times in their last five top-flight appearances.
However, two factors could be the key to the Cherries becoming far more prolific, that’s the return to full fitness of star striker Callum Wilson and the possible start of England midfielder Jack Wilshere in the centre of midfield.
Wilson was prolific in the Championship in the Cherries promotion campaign. He started last season brightly only to sustain a season-ending injury just a few months into the campaign.
He got back amongst the goals for the Cherries with a superb goal last weekend against West Brom and will no doubt make Howe’s team more potent in front of goal.
The arrival at Wilshere at Bournemouth was a high-profile one. The once saviour of the England central midfield signing for little old Bournemouth was a surprise. In truth, Wilshere needs Bournemouth and Howe as much as they need him, as he has a lot to prove to his doubters.
No doubt if he stays injury-free the loan star can be a major creative force in the centre of the Cherries midfield. He made his debut off the bench in that 1-0 win over West Brom last time out, but it seems likely that he is going to be thrown in from the start in this one.
The combination of Wilson and Wilshere may not jump out at you as a potential match-winning one, but it could be for the Cherries. With Wilshere’s eye for a pass and Wilson’s clinical finishing ability, they could cause a lot of Premier League team’s damage.
If you are going to place a bet on this game there will be hardly any value in a City who are heavy favourites to win this clash with every bookmaker in the land.
The moral of this story kids is if you’re going to place a bet on this game then goals is where it is at. Whether you back the both teams to score, Wilson to get on the scoresheet at any point or just a simple over 2.5 goals scored, the goals are more than likely to be flowing.
That is where you should be able to make a nice little profit from this seemingly uninteresting game from a punters point of view.
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