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BBC pundit Chris Sutton has backed Manchester City forward Erling Haaland to fire once again against Bournemouth this weekend.
City face the newly promoted Cherries in the Premier League on Saturday, August 12, at the Etihad. Former Chelsea striker Sutton thinks Bournemouth might be in trouble if City score first.
Predicting the outcome of the match for the BBC, he wrote:
"Erling Haaland is going to be licking his lips before this one. If Manchester City score the first goal, Bournemouth are in trouble."
Sutton continued:
"I suspect the Cherries will try for damage limitation if they do go behind, but I'm not sure that will work. Bournemouth are the tallest team in the Premier League - and they are probably going to take the biggest walloping this weekend."
Sutton put down a 5-0 scoreline in favor of the defending champions in this fixture.
Manchester City and Bournemouth got off to a winning start
Manchester City expertly handled West Ham United on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. The defending champions won 2-0 at the London Stadium, courtesy of a brace from summer signing Erling Haaland.
Haaland opened the scoring in the first half by converting a spot-kick after he was tripped in the box. The goal put West Ham on the backfoor and they struggled to create any clear-cut chances. David Moyes' men were ultimately undone by another moment of quality in the second half.
Kevin De Bruyne threaded a defense-splitting pass, which was latched on to by Haaland. The Norwegian forward displayed pace to get to the ball and then composure in front of goal to slot in a calm finish and double City's lead.
The goals seemed to indicate that Haaland had arrived after a difficult outing in the FA Community Shield. He will definitely look to add to his tally in the Citizens' next match.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, played classic counter-attacking football to outdo Aston Villa 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium. They opened the scoring in the second minute through Jefferson Lerma, which immediate put Steven Gerrard's team on the backfoot.
The Cherries sat deep and defended their third, while launching counter attacks whenever presented with the opportunity. After frustrating Villa, Bournemouth doubled their lead through Kieffer Moore with 10 minutes to go. It helped them secure three points in their first game back in the Premier League.
Despite their promising start, Bournemouth will know that they have to work harder and have luck on their side if they wish to take even a point off Manchester City.
