Manchester City host Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as the Premier League leaders begin their busy Christmas period.
Pep Guardiola's side have a great record against the Cherries and will be confident of keeping their record winning run going, ahead of trips to Newcastle and Crystal Palace between Christmas and New Year.
MAN CITY INJURIES
Vincent Komany is currently out with a muscle injury and is unlikely to return by Saturday. David Silva has missed the last two matches for personal reasons and Guardiola was unable to shed any light on when the playmaker will be back in contention following the Carabao Cup win at Leicester on Tuesday.
Eliaquim Mangala was substituted with a bloody nose during that match, but should be fit to return.
John Stones and Benjamin Mendy will both miss out through injury, though Stones could be back after Christmas.
MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS
Manchester City have no suspensions for the Bournemouth game but both Fernandinho and Leroy Sane are on four yellow cards, meaning another booking would rule them out of the next game. After Saturday's games, Premier League players who have picked up fewer than five yellow cards this season will need to rack up 10 bookings before recieving a one-match ban.
MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Guardiola rested several of his most-used players at Leicester, meaning he should be able to pick a strong squad for Saturday's game.
Mangala will partner Nicolas Otamendi at the back as long as Kompany and Stones do not make shock returns.
Ilkay Gundogan is most likely to replace David Silva if the Spanish playmaker is not in contention.
Sergio Aguero was rested in midweek and could come in for Gabriel Jesus up front. Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane were also given a night off and are likely to return.
BOURNEMOUTH TEAM NEWS
Charlie Daniels and Josh King are both doubtful for Bournemouth after picking up injuries during the defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. Callum Wilson also missed that game with a knee injury, and Harry Arter is another doubt.
Jermain Defoe is out with ankle ligament damage.
Brad Smith and Tyrone Mings are also out with longer-term injuries.
OPTA MATCH FACTS
- Manchester City have won nine and lost none of their 11 previous league matches against Bournemouth (D2), winning all five in the Premier League.
- The Cherries have conceded nine goals in two previous Premier League visits to the Etihad, losing 5-1 in October 2015 and 4-0 in September 2016.
- Bournemouth have never won a match in Manchester against either City or United in 11 previous attempts in all competitions (W0 D2 L9), conceding 32 goals in those 11 games.
- Raheem Sterling has scored in all four of his Premier League appearances against Bournemouth, scoring six goals including a hat-trick in October 2015 and last-minute winner in this season’s reverse fixture.
- If Manchester City win this, it will be the joint-second longest ever winning run in one of Europe’s big five leagues (17 games). The current record is 19, achieved by Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2013-14.
- Manchester City have scored at least twice in each of their last 11 Premier League games – only the Citizens themselves have ever had a longer such run in the competition (14 games ending in November 2011).
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
Kick off is 15:00 GMT/10:00 ET on Saturday, December 23, though the game will not be shown live on television in the United Kingdom.
In the US, watch the Premier League live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
