Pep Guardiola says his full focus is on beating Bournemouth to keep hopes alive of City having a chance of winning the title on the last day of the season against Aston Villa at the Etihad.
Match Preview
Bournemouth v City: Kick-off time, team news and TV information
City face the Cherries on Tuesday at the Vitality Stadium and a victory is essential as we look to keep pace with Arsenal at the summit of the Premier League table heading into the final fixture.
But the boss knows his Blues face a very tough Bournemouth side, managed by Andoni Iraola who will be saying farewell to home supporters tomorrow after an impressive three-year spell on the south coast.
Bournemouth are currently on an unbeaten streak of 17 games in the Premier League – the longest in the top-flight this season – making them formidable foes.
“Bournemouth, Bournemouth, Bournemouth,” said the boss when asked what his mindset was heading into the finale of the campaign.
“17 games unbeaten. The run is unbelievable. What they have done with losing three players in the back four from last season that had success and then going 17 games unbeaten is unbelievable.
“The only chance we have is to win so we have to break that run otherwise it will be over.
“Always they have been difficult. Since last years, they have been tough, tough games.
“Last season in the Premier League it was one of the worst defeats and performances.
“At the same time, in the quarter-final last season we played really, really good. We will see which face we do tomorrow.
“We have three days, they have ten days to prepare for the game.
“They are playing to qualify for the Champions League. When you arrive in the last fixtures and the opponent doesn’t play for anything it’s easier but that is not the case.
“It is what it is. We know exactly what we have to do. It’s not complicated, we have to win and then against Aston Villa.
“All we want is to be with our people at the end and try to fight for the title and extend it to Aston Villa. To do that we need to beat Bournemouth.”
Before we take on the Cherries, this evening Arsenal host Burnley with the aim of keeping destiny in their hands going into the final day.
The Clarets may be already relegated but Guardiola has backed them to give it their all against the Gunners.
“Here in England, the teams always will do their best,” the manager added.
“For example Leeds are already safe and played and behaved at Spurs away incredibly and took a draw.
“All the teams do their best to win. I don’t have any doubts they will try.”
Be at the first public event in the new North Stand!
This Wednesday, the first-ever fan event is planned to take place within the expanded section of the Etihad Stadium’s North Stand.
This landmark occasion forms part of the phased opening of the expansion, with a series of public and private test events designed to assess key operational elements of the facility.
Subject to the new areas successfully passing initial internal checks, the event on Wednesday 20 May, will operate at 50% of the additional seating capacity, allowing more than 3,500 fans to attend.
Should the test event be successful, the next phase will see us trial 100% capacity at the final Premier League home match of the season against Aston Villa. Hospitality areas, the fan zone and the wider Medlock Square development will open later in 2026.
Tickets here
