Man City vs. Bournemouth: Pep Guardiola must unleash “cheat code” to quell “ridiculous” Antoine Semenyo threat

Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov could be a “cheat code” for Pep Guardiola’s side in quelling the threat of Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo on Sunday, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

After missing seven games in all competitions through injury, Khusanov played for just over an hour at centre-back in City’s 3-1 comeback victory over Swansea in the EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday night.

The 21-year-old’s previous three appearances for Guardiola’s side were all at right-back, impressing in victories without reply against Napoli and Manchester United in September before playing the first 45 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Arsenal.

Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis - predominantly the former - have operated on the right side of defence in Khusanov’s absence, but McInerney believes that the Uzbekistan international is the obvious choice to return at right-back when Man City welcome an in-form Bournemouth outfit to the Etihad Stadium this weekend.

Premier League defenders have struggled to keep Cherries attacker Semenyo quiet so far this season, with only Erling Haaland (11) scoring more goals in the division than the Ghanaian (six) after nine matches.

Semenyo has been labelled by McInerney as “one of the best players in the league this season” who has been “absolutely ridiculous” for Bournemouth, but Khusanov’s “perfect” recovery pace and aggression in challenges could be key in limiting his impact on the left flank.

Khusanov’s pace could be the “solution” to stopping Semenyo

“I'm hoping Khusanov is available for this game, because against Semenyo, Khusanov is a cracking natural defender and his pace in behind is a bit of a cheat code for City, so that will immediately alleviate a lot of the pressure or the chances for them to counter,” McInerney told Sports Mole.

Discussing which Man City player is best suited to battle with Semenyo, McInerney confidently said: “It’s definitely Khusanov. His pace is fantastic and I know he's not naturally a right-back, but his recovery pace and his aggression in the challenge is perfect.

“We've got to give Nunes credit. It was the Bournemouth game last season with [Nico] O'Reilly where those two as a (full-back) pairing really took off, and I think Nunes has done pretty well recently.

“Not his best game against Villa, a couple of silly moments...I forgive him, though, because I thought he was excellent the game before that (against Everton).

“It shouldn't be Rico Lewis (against Bournemouth) - never in a million years should it be Rico Lewis. Rico is a very smart footballer, but [with] the physicality and the pace [of Semenyo], it has to be one of Khusanov and Nunes there. I suspect it’ll be Khusanov because his pace is hopefully the solution.”

Man City will not win “basketball game” against Bournemouth

After enjoying a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, Man City came up short at Villa Park last weekend when they suffered a slender 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League, slipping down to fifth in the table.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, have climbed above them into second place after winning 2-0 at home to Nottingham Forest last time out, extending their impressive unbeaten streak in the top flight to eight matches (W5 D3).

Man City secured a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in their last Etihad battle in May, but McInerney has questioned whether the Citizens will prevail in another high-scoring contest against Andoni Iraola’s men this weekend.

Asked whether a goal-laden game or a tight contest could be in store, McInerney said: “If it ends up a basketball game, it's got to go Bournemouth's way.

“I think the best chance City have is controlling [the game] and forcing Bournemouth to fall into their trap. I think that's possible, because I do think that we'll see City more like the second half of the of the Villa game than the first half, but it depends which City turns up.

“I think there's a chance it could end up high scoring. If it does, I don't think City will win. I think a high-scoring game would probably fall towards Bournemouth. It might be a draw, I could see it ending up as a 2-2 or 3-3 something like that, but I don't think City's best chance to win it is [playing an end-to-end game].”

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