Premier League: Confident Cherries Set in a Collision Course Against the Reigning Champs

Manchester City vs AFC Bournemouth

Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth are both aiming to make it two wins in a row to kick off their 2022-23 Premier League season, but only one of them can do it this Saturday.

It’s not every day that the Cherries are above the Sky Blues in the English top-flight standings. But the visitors will test their luck to see if they can topple the defending champions once and for all.

The pre-match SBOTOP betting odds aren’t optimistic on AFC Bournemouth’s chances, though, since Manchester City have gotten the best of them in their most recent meetings.

Nevertheless, football fans are in for a treat when these two clubs collide anew since this season is already bringing in plenty of excitement especially after fun first matchday last week.

Talking Points

Erling Haaland lives up to the billing for Manchester City

Erling Haaland’s debut on British soil in their Community Shield loss to Liverpool where he missed two glorious opportunities to score is already a distant memory.

Just like how he did it at Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland made his impressive league debut by recording a brace in their 2-0 victory against West Ham United last Sunday.

The 22-year-old striker delivered exactly what Manchester City were looking for as he gave them the advantage via a penalty kick nine minutes before half-time, and then he put the game beyond doubt with a clinical left-foot finish after 65 minutes.

Compared to their last league meeting at the London Stadium where they were pushed to the limit, Manchester City dispatched the hosts with ease. In fact, if Haaland wasn’t subbed off 12 minutes before the final whistle, he would’ve had a debut hat-trick for sure.

More than the actual goals, Haaland was enjoying himself with his new teammates as if they were playing together for many years already, which is great news for City fans and bad news for everyone else.

Alan Shearer – the league’s all-time top scorer with 260 goals – even gave Haaland his seal of approval and hinted that the Norwegian phenom might be coming for his record as he tweeted: “258 to go!” after the match.

AFC Bournemouth should not get too ahead of themselves

The Cherries marked their return to the Premier League with aplomb as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 in their home opener last weekend.

It only took them three minutes to take the lead as Aston Villa were temporarily down to 10 men when Lucas Digne was not on the pitch due to a nosebleed, and then Marcus Tavernier’s corner found its way to Jefferson Lerma – who fired home the first goal.

Kieffer Moore almost doubled the Cherries’ lead heading into half-time, but he couldn’t convert Adam Smith’s low pass. He did make up for it, though, via a header in the 80^th minute.

Avoiding relegation is the main objective for AFC Bournemouth this season, but at least Scott Parker and co. can relax for a bit after their first victory. However, Manchester City are a different beast and the Cherries might be in for a rude awakening.

History

Manchester City are undefeated in the Premier League against AFC Bournemouth, prevailing in all 10 of their previous meetings, which is the best winning ratio by a team against another in league history.

The last time the Cherries were in the Premier League during 2019-20, the Sky Blues completed the league double over them with an aggregate tally of 4-2.

The Sky Blues have only lost their first home league game once in the last 22 seasons (W15, D6), which was against the Foxes in 2020-21 via a 5-2 tally.

AFC Bournemouth have led for a grand total of eight minutes in all of their league encounters against Manchester City between 1987 and 2020, which happened in August 2017 when Charlie Daniels gave the Cherries the lead before Gabriel Jesus drew level.

Betting Tip

Manchester City are unsurprisingly backed by the Premier League 2022 odds to win on Saturday. They are priced at 1.08, while AFC Bournemouth are the major underdogs at 42.00 in the 1X2 market.

The Cherries are hopeful to end their winless streak against the Sky Blues, but it’s unlikely that they’ll snap it anytime soon.

Going for a Sky Blues victory is a sure way to get a decent payout, but you might consider alternative bets such as Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.32 and Over 3.25 @ 1.82 since we’re expecting to see numerous Premier League 2022 highlights from this contest.

 

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