Sports Blog 13/02/2017: Premier League Preview – Bournemouth vs Manchester City, Monday 13th February 2017

Can Manchester City leapfrog into 2nd place with a win over Bournemouth, at 8pm on Sky Sports 1?

With their own inconsistencies matched by the teams around them, City now look like the best side to exert some title-race pressure on Chelsea. Victory on the south coast this Monday would take Pep Guardiola and co. to within 8 points of the league leaders – an admittedly big gap, but one that could gradually be eroded if the Blues start to drop a few more points to sides like Burnley.



A big part of City’s improvement in the past 3 games – their FA Cup win over Crystal Palace, a demolition of West Ham at the Olympic Stadium and a very tight victory over a resurgent Swansea – has been the emergence of Gabriel Jesus. The youngster has had a huge impact since he first appeared as a substitute against Tottenham, and has 3 goals (including the 92 minute winner against the Swans) in his last 2 games. That form has been good enough to displace Sergio Aguero from the starting 11, though the Argentinian still has a greater Super Mega PGM spread of 58-69 to the Brazilian’s 49-57.

Eddie Howe should be mighty worried, regardless of which of the 2 makes an appearance on Monday. Bournemouth’s backline has had colander-level leaks in 2017, the Cherries conceding 19 goals in their last 6 games in all competitions, most recently letting Everton put 6 past them at Goodison Park.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. For all their defensive weaknesses, they actually look pretty good going forwards; in fact, with 35 goals scored, they have the highest league tally of any team outside the top 7. Admittedly that may be difficult to sustain with Callum Wilson out for the rest of the season, though Howe does have decent cover in Joshua King and Benik Afobe, who both sit at Super Mega PGMs of 16-20.

If the Cherries can’t plug up the gaps at the back it could well be a bloodbath at Dean Court, with Spreadex offering a Man City/Bournemouth (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1.3-1.5 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.2-3.4.