Manchester City travel to face Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals this Sunday, exclusively live on talkSPORT.
Pep Guardiola’s side return to domestic action after the international break aiming to continue their hopes of silverware this season.
City need some positivity and a place at Wembley will be a huge plus if they can follow up their fifth-round win over Plymouth with another victory.
Bournemouth will provide a much sterner test, with the Cherries chasing Europe in the Premier League on top of this cup run.
Andoni Iraola is looking to get one over his Spanish compatriot after seeing off top-flight rivals Wolves on penalties to reach this stage.
Bournemouth vs Man City: Winning streak
Man City have had a tough campaign in all competitions and their last remaining hope of some silverware comes in the FA Cup.
Guardiola will be desperate to win a trophy to end a dismal year positively.
And heading into this quarter-final tie, their past record is sure to give them confidence.
City have won all of their last seven FA Cup quarter-finals, reaching the final four in every season since the 2018/19 campaign.
They have made the semi-finals in six-straight years heading into this tie against Bournemouth, and they will hope to extend their streak.
That run is already a record in the competition, so they can move further clear in the FA Cup history books if they beat the Cherries.
- Bournemouth won 2-1 against Manchester City the last time they faced in November, having not won any of their first 21 meetings with the Citizens in all competitions (D2 L19).
- This is the first ever FA Cup meeting between Bournemouth and Manchester City. It’s just the third time the Cherries have faced the reigning English champions in the competition after March 1957 (1-2 v Manchester United) and January 1961 (0-1 v Burnley).
- This is just Bournemouth’s third appearance in the FA Cup quarter-finals, losing 2-1 against Manchester United in 1956-57 and 3-0 against Southampton in 2020-21.
Bournemouth vs Man City: Team news
Bournemouth could welcome back Marcos Senesi, but Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi’s partnership will be hard to break.
Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo will be huge threats in behind Evanilson who has been impressive on his return from a lay-off.
As for Man City, Ederson has been confirmed to be fit to feature after missing the last game and Brazil’s international fixtures.
However, No.2 goalkeeper Stefan Ortega could still retain the gloves.
Rodri remains out as he recovers from his ACL injury, while Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji are all expected to remain sidelined.
It leaves Abdukodir Khusanov and Ruben Dias as the only two options at centre-back.
- Antoine Semenyo has had 14 shots in the FA Cup this season, with half of these coming in Bournemouth’s fifth-round tie against Wolves. Only Luke Molyneux (19) has had more shots in the competition proper this term.
- Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in 13 goals in his last 10 appearances in the FA Cup (3 goals, 10 assists), both scoring and assisting in Man City’s 3-1 win against Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round.
Bournemouth vs Man City: What has been said?
Guardiola is aiming to go far in the FA Cup and continue his side’s great streak in the competition while also eyeing the Champions League places in the league.
The City boss said: “[We want to] reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the seventh time in a row, this is the target.
“And of course, after that, win games to qualify for the Champions League next season.”
On the competition as a whole, he added: “It’s so nice the FA Cup, that’s why we took it seriously like we took in the past Carabao Cup winning four in a row.
“It could not be otherwise!”
- Manchester City have won their last 14 away games in the FA Cup, scoring 40 goals and conceding 10. Their last defeat on the road came at Wigan in February 2018, with their last four losses in the competition coming at Wembley Stadium.
- Bournemouth have progressed from their last two FA Cup ties against top-flight opponents (against Everton and Wolves in this season’s fourth and fifth rounds), as many as they had in their previous 17 such ties.
Bournemouth vs Man City: talkSPORT coverage
This FA Cup quarter-final tie will take place on Sunday, March 30.
Kick-off at the Vitality Stadium is scheduled for 4:30pm.
talkSPORT will have exclusive live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former Watford captain Troy Deeney.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
Listen via the talkSPORT app here, or on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
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The game will also be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX.
