Bournemouth v Manchester City Match Result
This time last season, Manchester City would have been odds-on to land a victory at the Vitality Stadium. However, times have changed and the bookies are prepared to chalk them up at a much bigger price to land a victory in this FA Cup encounter. While the English champions are still favourites, their odds suggest that they have a 45% chance of recording a success in normal time.
City have been interesting on the road this term. In the Premier League, they’ve secured six away victories and three draws, but also suffered half a dozen defeats. Defensively the team have not looked strong all term and they played out a 2-2 draw with Brighton before the international break to highlight this point.
While the visitors will always carry a scoring threat through Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, they are no longer bankers to win this sort of clash, especially against a Bournemouth side who are in the top half of the Premier League table on merit. The Cherries did come into the international break off the back of five games without a win.
Indeed, they haven’t registered a victory since recording a 3-1 win at Southampton, with that coming after a 2-0 FA Cup success at Everton. Since then, there have been defeats against Wolves, Brighton and Brentford, although they squeaked past Wanderers in the previous round of the FA Cup when winning on penalties. They also landed a 2-2 draw away to Tottenham and certainly fit the profile of a dangerous cup side.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if this game ended up being a scoring draw and there’s the prospect of the teams cancelling each other out over the ninety minutes. Perhaps that’s the best value option when it comes to the Full-Time Result market.
Goals Under/Over
We could be royally entertained at the Vitality Stadium according to the latest odds. There’s a 66% chance of three goals or more being scored in this FA Cup clash, with both teams likely to go on the front foot in search of goals. Strangely, Bournemouth have only scored eighteen times at home this season compared to their thirty goals on the road, although Andoni Iraola can call on a number of attacking players.
Three of the past four encounters featuring the Cherries have resulted in Over 2.5 Goals, with the latest fixture being a 2-1 home reverse against Brentford. Bournemouth actually had five shots on target in that clash compared to their opponents’ four, with Manchester City having recently played out a 2-2 draw with Brighton.
The City away games have often featured goals, with Pep Guardiola’s team scoring twenty-five and conceding twenty-one in their fifteen games away from the Etihad Stadium. We’re likely to see the net bulge a few times here.
BTTS
When the teams met on 2 November, Bournemouth claimed a 2-1 victory and it’s easy to see both teams finding the net in this encounter. It was an open game on that occasion, with Antoine Semenyo giving the Cherries an early lead before Evanilson doubled their advantage. It was Josko Gvardiol who scored a late consolation, although City ended up having four shots on target.
City did draw a blank away to Nottingham Forest recently and they did fail to score at home to Liverpool, although it’s hard to see them not finding the net here. They were able to score in both recent Champions League encounters against Real Madrid despite failing to go through, with City having cruised past Plymouth in the previous round when winning 3-1.
The BTTS Yes price is trading at around the 1.40 mark and there’s over a 70% probability that we’ll see this outcome happen. The fact that we’re talking about a cup encounter means that goals could be racked up for both teams and we might see this bet come in well before full-time.
First Goalscorer
Erling Haaland’s numbers have dropped after his first couple of seasons at Manchester City, although the Norwegian has twenty-one goals in the Premier League this season and he has a massive thirty-six in all competitions. The forward was on target against Brighton, with eleven having now been pilfered in the past fourteen and he’s worth considering on the First Goalscorer or Anytime Scorer market.
Omar Marmoush is also making his presence felt and the Egyptian could end up being a match winner at the Vitality Stadium, with the forward potentially a good bet to break the deadlock in this encounter. However, there are also an interesting number of options for Bournemouth and perhaps Evanilson can score as he did in the league fixture.
The Brazilian helped to double his team’s lead on that occasion, although it was Antoine Semenyo who scored the first goal of that particular encounter and we’re intrigued by his price to score the opener here. We know that Justin Kluivert is on penalties for the Cherries and the Dutchman might be the best option of all, with the attacking midfielder a virtually certain starter.