AFC Bournemouth return to the Vitality Stadium this weekend, as they host Manchester City who are seeking to keep their own title challenge alive.
Bournemouth themselves are fighting to escape the clutches of the relegation zone. A recent draw against Newcastle followed by a win away at Wolves has left them one point above the relegation zone as the season heads into the latter stages.
It could seem that Bournemouth are facing the reigning champions at a good time (if there is such a thing). No wins in their last two matches could leave their confidence low as they head to Dean Court, a stadium that has a seen a marked improvement in atmosphere in recent games.
Key storylines from the weekend include a first return to the Vitality for Nathan Ake since he left the club to join Manchester City. This season has been a successful one for the dutchman and he remains much loved by the Bournemouth faithful.
Nerve Sport were at Gary O’Neil’s press conference on Friday afternoon as he previewed the challenge ahead.
On the injury front, O’Neil confirmed there will be no David Brooks this week after only partaking in partial training this week, but O’Neil said they were taking his progress on a week-by-week basis and were keen not to rush him back into a game.
O’Neil added that there would be no Marcus Tavernier. Tavernier has been one of Bournemouth’s biggest players this campaign and O’Neil hopes his injury is “not to serious.” Additionally, there will be no Lloyd Kelly or Lewis Cook.
On how he can beat Man City, O’Neil said: “We’ll find a way to see if we can restrict them to as little as possible and try and be a threat at the same time.”
Haaland has seen his effectiveness drop off slightly in recent games but O’Neil does not think this gives his side too much of an advantage: “His goals record is fantastic; they can hurt you with the ball and can play in many different ways. They will be where you expect them to be, come the end of the season.”
A tough test is of course expected against the reigning champions and O’Neil insists the game is as tough as it could have ever been despite City’s recent drop-off in form “I don’t see them as any weaker than they have been, they are still the best team in the country, and it’ll be an exceptionally tough game for us.”
Earlier in the week, O’Neil said how he wants Dominic Solanke to be more selfish in his style of play, but when asked by Nerve Sport if this was still the plan heading into this game, he joked: “We’ve worked on it less this week because we’ve got Man City, so he needs to be less selfish.
He’s an honest guy who will do whatever he can to help the team. Sometimes that means he drops deeper than he should but sometimes he’s right to end up deeper.
The key is to help the players and their understanding. Tomorrow will be the ultimate test of how well you understand where you should and shouldn’t be.”
After a tough game at Molineux last weekend, the team are back on home ground at the Vitality Stadium this weekend. Nerve Sport asked O’Neil how important the fans would be this weekend, the head coach said: “They [the home fans] are going to be huge, the best team in the county are coming so it should be an exciting day for the fans.
I expect there to be some tough moments where we have to dig in. We’ll need the fans, the lads will need them, so hopefully the boys can give it a real good go and get the fans behind them and we can have another good day at the Vitality tomorrow.
AFC Bournemouth vs Manchester City kicks off at 17:30 live on Sky Sports from the Vitality Stadium.