Manchester City play their first home game of the new season on Saturday, as they host newly promoted Bournemouth in the Premier League.
It was the perfect start to the Premier League campaign for City last weekend, with Erling Haaland netting twice as Pep Guardiola's side won 2-0 at West Ham. It was an impressive display all-round for City, who were unlucky to have only scored twice.
City fans would've also been glad to see Haaland get off the mark with his brace against the Hammers, and the striker is tipped to continue his good form at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. The promoted side also started the new season in style last week, comfortably beating Aston Villa 2-0 at home.
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Guardiola has one new injury setback ahead of the clash against the Cherries, with Kalvin Phillips joining Aymeric Laporte on the sidelines. City could start with the same side that beat West Ham.
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 22 and updated the squads with the latest transfers.
We predict that City could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Foden, Haaland, Grealish.
We predict that Bournemouth could set up in a 3-5-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Travers; Lerma, Mepham, Kelly; Smith, Cook, Billing, Tavenier, Zemura; Moore, Solanke.
City got off to the perfect start just five minutes into the game, with Erling Haaland poking home from close range. Phil Foden beat his marker down the right before dragging a cross into the box, and the Norwegian striker tapped home.
City then tested the 'keeper with a number of shots, with the best chance coming just two minutes after the opener when Ruben Dias hit the post from a corner. The pressure continued from City, and Haaland got the second of the game on 20 minutes.
Kevin De Bruyne spotted the run of Haaland in the box, finding the striker with a perfect reverse pass. Running away from goal, Haaland spotted the 'keeper pushing off his line, and the 22-year-old drilled a fantastic effort through the legs of Mark Travers from a tight angle.
The dominant display continued, with Phil Foden then getting in on the act and making it 3-0 before half-time. Joao Cancelo's cross from the left was headed at the 'keeper by Haaland, but the rebound fell to the feet of Foden who blasted home on the volley.
Haaland then topped off a great individual display with his third goal of the day in the 75th minute to put City 4-0 up at the Etihad. The striker received the ball just inside the box, and on his left foot, the Norwegian drilled his shot into the far corner to extend the lead.
Julian Alvarez entered the pitch for the final 10 minutes, and the forward grabbed his side's fifth goal of the game in the final moments with a smart finish. A cross into the box was cleared by Bournemouth to the feet of Alvarez on the edge of the area, and after plucking the ball out of the sky, the Argentne fizzed a powerful strike into the bottom corner to secure the victory.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Man City 5-0 Bournemouth
Here are the full-time match stats.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
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