Man City need to overcome Pep Guardiola's shaky…

Man City need to overcome Pep Guardiola's shaky opening home game record against Bournemouth

From amassing the most points or scoring the most goals, Pep Guardiola has broken nearly every record at Manchester City.

His relentless pursuit of perfection means he is hungry to improve year-on-year and this summer transfer window signals he is ready to go again. A large chunk of City's previous title-winning squad has left, with some exciting young talent coming into the club in their place.

Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho are the notable departures, with Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips the most lucrative signings. Julian Alvarez - who officially completed a move in January - has also linked up with his new teammates for the first time and is exciting fans and pundit alike with his performances.

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City got off to a winning start against West Ham and will be encouraged that Haaland's brace was the reason they secured all three points, but making it two from two this weekend is equally important.

There are under 100 days until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; a competition that has split the season into two and any momentum built going into that period will likely be lost. So, in this season more than ever, a consistent run of results is important for City if they are to lift silverware come May.

Bournemouth are the Blues' next task. Under the guidance of Scott Parker, the Cherries earned automatic promotion back to the Premier League and picked up three points against Aston Villa on the opening day.

They will be a tricky test for Guardiola's side, and they will want to put right an unusually shaky record in their opening home game of the season under the Catalan.

Starting with 2016/17 - Guardiola's maiden campaign - they kicked off a new era with a nervy 2-1 win against Sunderland via Sergio Agüero's penalty and ex-Manchester United defender, Paddy McNair's own goal. But since that day, City have only won two of their opening five Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium.

Those two wins are two five-goal thumpings against Huddersfield Town in 2018/19 and last season's game against Norwich City. Looking further back, in the campaign City ended up securing 100 points, their home adventures started with a 1-1 draw against Everton - a game where Kyle Walker was sent off and Raheem Sterling scored a late equaliser.

Refereeing controversy surrounded their game against Tottenham Hotspur in 2019/20. Gabriel Jesus thought he'd secured all three points in the last minute, but VAR - making its English top-flight debut - adjudged the ball to have brushed Aymeric Laporte's arm on the way through and City had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Last and certainly least in the minds of Blues fans will be the 5-2 loss to Leicester City just two years ago. After a winning start away to Wolves, Guardiola's side were brought straight back down to earth by a Jamie Vardy hat-trick.

With Bournemouth in town on Saturday, Guardiola will know picking up a result in this game and setting the pace before the World Cup break is vital.

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