Manchester City – Bournemouth

Two clubs with new coaches will settle their differences in a productive, results-oriented style.

Also in another pair of first round Premier League participants, teams with new managers will meet. Manchester City, in May of this year, ended a whole era that had become the most successful in the club's history. After ten years at the helm of the 'Citizens', the Mancunian squad parted ways with Pep Guardiola. And he did so with dignity. After the crisis of the season before last, the Spanish coach managed in record time to refresh the team and, it seems, squeeze from it the absolute maximum. In the 2025/2026 season, Manchester City won both national cups, and in the final stretch of the Premier League campaign managed to join the battle for the title, significantly frightening the London Arsenal of Mikel Arteta, who had already begun to believe in winning the trophy. For the coaching post at Manchester City, after a brief deliberation by the club's management, Enzo Maresca was appointed. The Italian, in a year and a half at Chelsea, managed to win the Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup, but disagreements with the somewhat peculiar leadership of the 'Blues' left him out of work for six months. In the FA Community Shield, Maresca received his first setback as head of the new squad. Manchester City lost to Arsenal 0-3, underscoring the seriousness of the tasks facing the Italian coach. During the transfer window, the 'Citizens' saw Reinders, Rodri, Trafford, Bernardo Silva and Akanji leave. The most significant signing was Elliot Anderson, who shone for England's national team at the World Cup in North America. Undoubtedly, the core of Manchester City remains intact, even despite such a substantial rebuild. The question is how quickly Maresca will be able to infect the squad with his ideas and give it the right impulse for development. Bournemouth, in the off-season, parted ways with the architect of its latest successes. For three years the Cherries were coached by Andoni Iraola, who made the 'team on the rise' a confident contender for a place in the Champions League zone and a Europa League participant. The team was led by Marco Rose, who has authority in coaching circles, but his latest football projects did not turn out well. Of the last five meetings, four of the opponents' games contained at least three goals. Surely, the upcoming match will also be productive.