AFC Bournemouth take on top-of-the-table Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium, where Andoni Iraola's side will be hoping to put up a good fight in order to gain their first-ever points against the Citizens in their Premier League history.
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Outstanding opponents
Iraola is more than aware of the challenges his side face. He says there is not one way to prepare to face top-of-the-table City, so they must consider all the aspects.
Iraola said: “No, I don’t think it’s about confidence. It's about preparing as good as we can; the game against City we know that it is going to be a really difficult one.
"I think when we played here the past season, I think we played quite well and we will have to be very similar or even better to have any chance against them.
“We have to play against them twice a season so we have to maximise our options, give our best and see if it’s enough.
“They have some injuries, these top teams are playing every three or four days, but we also have some injuries.”
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Squad information
Iraola gave insights on who will and who will not be available for the game and also gave his opinion on Mark Travers' star performance last week whilst he filled in for an injured Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Iraola said: “I think apart from Alex [Scott], who will be out for a longer time, Kepa will not be available against City. Luis Sinisterra will not be available, Phillip Billing yes because it was an illness, and I think it’s also very unlikely to have Dango [Ouattara] because he felt something yesterday and I don’t want to say 100% but it is very unlikely that he will be involved.
“It’s not a surprise for us, we know the level Mark has, I think this season the overall position has been quite solid and this is what they all have to do.
“All the goalkeepers have given us a very good level and I hope we can continue with the same level.”
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A look back on last season
When discussing the 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium last year, Iraola was pleased with the performance from the Cherries.
Despite the loss then, there was no disappointment from the head coach.
The Spaniard said: “For me, it was one of the best games probably, that we played last season.
"We lost that game but I felt like we put them under pressure, we performed really well individually, [and] we had very difficult duals. I think they were better than us in the first half but I think we were better, or as good at least in the second half. Even that performance wasn’t enough for one point. We have to be even better.”
"I think they control the game. They chose sometimes when to push harder and when to control the game, when to rest on the ball sometimes. They know what they are doing. We try to find ways, every team differently but it’s very difficult.”
"They are very good not only on the ball, not only attacking the spaces they are very good overall, so we have to choose a little bit and you’ll need to choose the poison, it’s difficult but we need to try and choose the best option for us. But it’s not going to be easy, for sure.”
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Adams and Araujo talks
The Bournemouth boss was also happy with Tyler Adams and Julián Araujo’s development within the squad during the past weeks, especially after the game against Aston Villa.
When speaking about Adams, Iraola said: “He’s training very well, he’s looking very confident and I think obviously knowing that he’s only played 15-20 minutes in the last month but I see him in a very good position.”
When talking about Araujo he said: “I think he’s reacted very well. I think he has a good mentality when he trains.
"He wants to improve, he knows that he’s coming to a new league and he needs to get a lot of things very quickly and I like his approach, he knows he’s not at the finished product, he is still developing.
"He is very young and he has to improve a lot of things but I think he is training very well and I like how Araujo has taken the decision."
