Manchester City vs Bournemouth Preview: How to Watch on TV, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News

Manchester City face familiar foes when they host Bournemouth in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening.

The clubs met as recently as mid-July when the Cherries gave Pep Guardiola's side a surprisingly stern test and were unlucky to walk away with a 2-1 defeat. Two games later, Bournemouth's five-year stay in the top flight came to an end despite a late uptick in form.

The south coast side travel to Manchester in a new division and with a new manager after Jason Tindall made the leap from assistant coach following Eddie Howe's departure.

So far unbeaten during his embryonic reign at the helm, Tindall and his side face what is likely to be their toughest opponents throughout the entirety of the season in the form of a City side that showed little signs of rust against Wolves on Monday night.

Where to Watch on TV

When Is Kick Off? Thursday 24 September
What Time Is Kick Off? 19:45 (BST)
Where Is it Being Played? Etihad Stadium
TV Channel/Live Stream? carabaocup.live
Referee? Jonathan Moss

Team News

Aside from a late scare after Raúl Jiménez's header, City appear to have come away from their 3-1 win away to Wolves on Monday night with no fresh injury concerns. However, they are still far from full strength.

Alongside the news of İlkay Gündoğan's positive COVID-19 test, City are monitoring Aymeric Laporte's recovery from the virus. Sergio Agüero is set to be out for another two months while the trio of Bernardo Silva, João Cancelo and Eric García are all doubts.

However, Guardiola admitted he will turn to youth for the cup clash, saying as quoted by the club's official website: “Against Bournemouth we will play mostly players in the academy and try to keep energy for the Premier League."

Bournemouth, on the other hand, are mercifully free of fitness woes after Josh King returned to training last week.

Predicted Lineups

Manchester City: Steffen; Adarabioyo, Harwood-Bellis, Otamendi, Aké; Bernabé, Rodri, Doyle; Mahrez, Foden, Torres.

Bournemouth: Begovic; Mepham, Cook, Kelly; Stacey, Gosling, Lerma, Smith; Brooks, Solanke, Danjuma.

Recent Form

City only began their 2020/21 campaign on Monday night. They started their win away to Wolves at a blistering pace but endured a slight wobble in the second half - much like their form post-lockdown.

City won their final five Premier League matches of 2019/20 by an aggregate scoreline of 21-1 but limped out of the Champions League to Lyon.

After a decade under the all-encompassing watch of Howe, Bournemouth have started the new era of Tindall with three games unbeaten. They followed up their opening day win over Blackburn by edging Crystal Palace in a mammoth penalty shootout in the previous round of the cup before a draw away to Middlesbrough.

All three results were earned using a three (or five, depending on your perspective) man defence, the same system which caused City some concerns two months ago.

Here are the last five results for each side.

Manchester City

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Manchester City (22/9)
Manchester City 1-3 Lyon (15/8)
Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid (7/8)
Manchester City 5-0 Norwich City (26/7)
Watford 0-4 Manchester City (21/7)

Bournemouth

Middlesbrough 1-1 Bournemouth (19/9)
Bournemouth 0-0 (11-10) Crystal Palace (15/9)
Bournemouth 3-2 Blackburn (12/9)
Everton 1-3 Bournemouth (26/7)
Bournemouth 0-2 Southampton (19/7)

Prediction

Guardiola may have warned that he will be playing the kids, but considering he was able to leave Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the entirety of Monday's contest, there is still plenty of threat in City's reserves.

Under Guardiola's stewardship, City have lost just two of their 20 matches in the EFL Cup - incidentally, both to Manchester United. Unlike many of his contemporaries, the Catalan coach evidently places a huge emphasis on the competition.

As competitive as the Cherries were in their last Etihad visit, the Championship team - since weakened in the intervening transfer market (including the sale of star centre-back Nathan Aké to Thursday's opponents) - may very well not have enough to overcome even a second-string City side.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth