Manchester City take on Bournemouth in their first match of the 2026-27 Premier League season on Sunday. Head coach Enzo Maresca hopes to put the Community Shield humbling by Arsenal behind him and pick up his first official win as the City manager.
For the first time in 10 years, the Sky Blues begin a top-flight campaign without Pep Guardiola on the touchline as the Spaniard left his position at the end of 2025-26 season with an FA Cup and Carabao Cup double.
With many of their marquee players such as Rodri and Nathan Ake also leaving, the club were handed a massive reality check on their squad rebuilding by the Gunners, who handed them a 3-0 defeat in the curtain-raiser last weekend.
Ahead of Bournemouth's visit to the Etihad on Sunday, here are some interesting stats for you:
1) Bournemouth's fiery run
The Premier League's longest active unbeaten run is currently held by Bournemouth, are undefeated in their last 18 top-flight matches, coming under their former manager Andoni Iraola last season.
It's also the first time in the competition that a manager will be making his debut with a team that's unbeaten in over 15 matches, previously seen with Luis Scolari at Chelsea in 2008.
2) City's dominant opening day record
Manchester City don't usually slip-up on opening matchdays. In fact, in just one of the last 15 seasons has the club failed to win the first game of the Premier League, as Tottenham Hotspur inflicted a 1-0 loss upon them in 2021-22 season.
As for the Cherries, only two wins - against Cardiff in 2018-19 season and against Aston Villa in 2022-23 season - from their last nine opening day league fixtures makes for a poor reading, although they come into the fixture on the back of an 18-match undefeated run.
3) Etihad, a fortress
During the Pep Guardiola years, Manchester City had turned the Etihad into a fortress where it took something special from the away side to win points. In the Spaniard's final league season with the side, they lost only two of 18 home games: 2-0 vs Tottenham Hotspur in their first and 2-1 vs Aston Villa in their last. The Citizens haven't lost back-to-back top-flight matches at home since 2021.
4) Haaland closing in on another record
Erling Haaland loves scoring in the opening day fixtures. Since joining Manchester City in 2022, the Norwegian sharpshooter has bagged seven. Mohamed Salah holds the record for most goals on the first matchday of a league season with 10, while Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Alan Shearer and Jami Vardy are next with eight. Haaland will be looking to climb up the charts tomorrow with a goal or two against the Cherries.
5) Both new managers
Interestingly, tomorrow's fixture between Manchester City and Bournemouth offers an interesting proposition of two managers who have newly taken the reigns. Enzo Maresca replaced Pep Guardiola whereas Marco Rose comes in for the Liverpool-bound Andoni Iraola. On Sundayy, both these managers will oversee their first Premier League games with City and Bournemouth, respectively.
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