Bournemouth have beaten Manchester City just once in their entire history, with City winning 22 of the other 25 meetings. That sole Bournemouth victory came in November 2024.
Yet the opening day of the 2026–27 Premier League season may offer the Cherries their best opportunity in years to do it again—and this time, the numbers aren’t the reason.
Bournemouth enjoyed a historic campaign last season, finishing sixth and qualifying for Europe for the first time. Still, City comfortably outperformed them statistically, scoring 77 goals to Bournemouth’s 58, conceding 35 to 54 and posting superior xG and possession numbers.
But City are entering unfamiliar territory. Pep Guardiola has departed after a decade of unprecedented success, with the unproven Enzo Maresca taking over. His preseason hasn’t exactly inspired confidence, with City losing to Inter Milan before suffering a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, have impressed under new boss Marco Rose, smashing St. Pauli 4-1, Augsburg 5-2 and Genoa 10-1 in preseason.
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