Manchester City begin their quest for a fourth EFL Cup in a row

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Manchester City begin their quest for a fourth EFL Cup in a row when they take on Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium in round three on Thursday evening. The Citizens have been a dominant force in this competition under Pep Guardiola, but the Catalan boss has vowed to make mass changes for this tie against second-tier Bournemouth.

City’s 2019-20 campaign ended in disappointed as they relinquished their grip on the Premier League title and fell short in the Champions League once again.

The EFL Cup was their only piece of major silverware in an underwhelming campaign, with the Citizens overcoming Aston Villa at Wembley just before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Guardiola’s men have won 17 of their last 18 games in the competition, the exception being a semi-final second-leg loss to Manchester United last term that ultimately did not matter.

They enter this fixture as overwhelming favourites, too, given that they have won their last 10 meetings with Bournemouth by an aggregate score of 30-5.

Each of those encounters were in the Premier League, with this the first ever meeting between the sides in a cup competition of any sort.

City also looked sharp in their opening fixture of the campaign on Monday, seeing off Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 through goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus

However, Guardiola revealed after that match he will field his youngsters against Bournemouth, possibly giving the Championship side hope of pulling off a big upset.

Since Bournemouth’s last defeat to City, they have suffered relegation to the Championship and replaced long-serving boss Eddie Howe with Jason Tindall.

Date: 24/09/2020
Time: 21:45
Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)
Pick for this match:
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