This article is part of our Football Predictions series.
After losing the FA Cup final on Saturday, Manchester City must refocus for a huge match with Bournemouth at the Etihad.
Manchester City were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on Saturday, which marks their first season since 2016/17 in which they will not win a trophy. This will be the third time they've faced Bournemouth this season, splitting the other two meetings. With the race for Champions League football incredibly tight, they need three points from this match.
The Cherries have been stumbling down the stretch and find themselves outside the top half of the table following the weekend matches. Finishing in the top 10 would be a massive achievement for Andoni Iraola's side and a result at the Etihad would be huge considering their season finale is against Leicester City.
Given the proximity to Saturday's matchup, City's lineup will be hard to project. However, with everything to play for, a few players will likely be pushed to the limit. All projected and confirmed lineups can be seen at the RotoWire lineup pages.
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Premier League Best Bets for Manchester City vs. Bournemouth
Betting on Anytime Goalscorer
Erling Haaland is back from injury and this is the type of matchup where he usually thrives.
One of the things City were missing when he was injured was the ability to play direct and over the top of an opponent's press. Bournemouth are the best pressing team in the Premier League, but they can be exposed if you play direct against them.
Manchester City target Haaland repeatedly when pressed high because he's excellent at winning one-on-one duels against the opposing center-back. That usually creates a transition opportunity for City and Haaland can have free runs into the box.
He scored in the previous meeting against Bournemouth and I like the value on him to score at -175.
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Betting on Anytime Assist
Manchester City have really struggled defending crosses this season.
They hold a lot of possession, so often the crosses they're defending are in transition breaks when their defense isn't set, which can make it kind of difficult. They're last in the Premier League in the percentage of crosses completed into the penalty area at 16.24%, which is also how Bournemouth create most of their chances.
Over 40 percent of Bournemouth's attacks come down the left side of the pitch where Milos Kerkez will bomb forward to make both overlapping and underlapping runs with Antoine Semenyo.
Kerkez has completed 23 crosses into the penalty area (third most in the league) and has provided five assists this season.
I like the value on him to have an assist at +1400.
Betting on Total Goals
Manchester City's match against Crystal Palace on Saturday was low scoring, but that's because they were facing a low block.
That's not going to be the case in this matchup, as Bournemouth are going to want this match to be played in transition. That came back to bite them when they faced Manchester City in the FA Cup on March 30, allowing over three expected goals and losing the match 2-1.
Even in the previous meeting back in November, transition breaks were happening routinely as both teams combined for 3.6 expected goals and 30 shots.
Both teams are going to want to press high, which should make this a fun match. Other than a top-half finish, Bournemouth have nothing to play for, so I'd expect the Cherries to have a proper go at three points.
I like the value on over 3.5 goals at +130.
Manchester City vs. Bournemouth Betting Picks
- Erling Haaland Anytime Goalscorer (-175)
- Milos Kerkez Anytime Assist (+1400)
- Over 3.5 goals (+130)
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