English Premier
2026-08-23 - Manchester City vs Bournemouth
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 23rd August 2026 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester City
The Community Shield has long been seen as a 'glorified friendly' around English Football, even if a team does get to pick up a shiny trophy at the end of the fixture. In recent times, the winner of the game has not been able to kick on and win the Premier League as some may expect and that is about the only positive that Enzo Maresca can take from Manchester City's 3-0 defeat to Arsenal last Sunday.
There was always going to be a lot of attention on Manchester City and how they would respond to the departure of Pep Guardiola after a long tenure managing the club. Appointing Enzo Maresca means a familiar face around the Etihad Stadium, but Manchester City will need to show much more certainty in their football if they are going to win the title for the first time since 2024.
Manchester City have failed to win any of the last 3 games in all competitions since beating Chelsea in the FA Cup Final and they have now suffered consecutive defeats. They had won 4 in a row at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions before Aston Villa left with a 1-2 win on the final day of the season, which was Pep Guardiola's send off game.
Both Savinho and Omar Marmoush have been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur and are unlikely to be involved. Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku are both doubts.
Bournemouth
The appointment of Andoni Iraola to replace Gary O'Neil surprised many at the time and a slow start under the Spaniard will have concerned Bournemouth fans. Instead, Iraola helped the club grow and grow and departed this summer having guided Bournemouth into 6th place and with Europa League Football to be played at the Vitality Stadium in the coming season.
Andoni Iraola made his intentions to leave clear quickly enough for Bournemouth to announce Marco Rose as his replacement before the 2025/26 season had been concluded. The German is plenty experienced having taken charge of Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig before this role with Bournemouth, but Rose will be under some pressure thanks to the increased expectation set by his predecessor.
Bournemouth had a decent pre-season and will begin this campaign unbeaten in the last 18 Premier League games played, although 10 of those matches ended in draws. The Cherries are unbeaten in 10 away Premier League games and they had won 3 in a row on their travels before being held to a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Last summer, Bournemouth lost a number of key defenders and would also lose Antoine Semenyo in the January transfer window. Marco Rose may be hoping for more incomings, but the squad is largely settled.
However, the likes of Ryan Christie (suspended), Julio Soler and Eli Junior Kroupi are set to miss this fixture, while David Brooks is a doubt.
Head to Head
Manchester City took four points from Bournemouth last season, but the 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium in the final week of the campaign handed the title to Arsenal.
Manchester City have won the last 4 home games against Bournemouth since the latter returned to the top flight and all of those wins have been by at least two goal margins.
Prediction
After the really disappointing defeat to Arsenal last Sunday in the Community Shield, it will have been a tough week for Enzo Maresca and his Manchester City squad.
They will have heard the criticism, although privately the team must feel they gave the game away early and that was always going to make it very difficult to recover.
Manchester City did have chances to get back into the fixture before the third goal, but they were well beaten in the first match without Pep Guardiola overseeing the team. That is something that Enzo Maresca is going to have to get used to hearing if Manchester City have a poor result, even if Guardiola's team failed to win the title in each of the last two seasons.
Enzo Maresca will need the fans on Sunday as Manchester City begin the season with a potentially awkward fixture.
Bournemouth are also under new management with Marco Rose taking over from Andoni Iraola, but they finished 6th in the Premier League last season and The Cherries have a long unbeaten run to protect. They proved to have the right system to be very hard to beat away from home as well, although Bournemouth did not enjoy recent visits to the Etihad Stadium.
There is pace on the counter attack that will make Bournemouth dangerous, but the squad is also dealing with a host of injuries right now and Eli Junior Kroupi's absence is a real blow.
Only three teams finished with a better record than Bournemouth in the second half of the season, but a reaction is expected from Manchester City and they can beat this opponent for the fifth time in a row by at least two goals at the Etihad Stadium.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth
