Zack Steffen and Liam Delap have been handed their Manchester City debuts against Bournemouth this evening, whilst new signing Ferran Torres gets his first start for the Club.

Pep Guardiola has delivered on his promise to utilise Academy players for the Carabao Cup third round clash, with seven of the starting XI aged 20 or younger.

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Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle and Adrian Bernabe are three of the beneficiaries of that decision, with fellow Academy graduates Eric Garcia and Phil Foden also included for the Cherries clash.

Experience is provided by Kyle Walker, who captains the side, Rodrigo and Riyad Mahrez.

A strong looking bench includes Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Benjamin Mendy, complemented by Felix Nmecha and Cole Palmer.

TeamS

CITY: Steffen, Walker (c), Garcia, Harwood-Bellis, Torres, Rodrigo, Doyle, Foden, Bernabe, Mahrez, Delap.

SUBS: Carson, Ake, Sterling, De Bruyne, Mendy, Nmecha, Palmer.

BOURNEMOUTH: Travers, Smith, Ofoborh, Simpson, Kelly, Rico, Gosling, Billing, L. Cook, Brooks, Surridge.

SUBS: Begovic, Stacey, S. Cook, Zemura, Lerma, Kilkenny, Anthony.

Opportunity to impress

Guardiola committed to using Academy players for this game following the 3-1 win over Wolves on Monday.

It is a decision influenced by the tight turnaround, both from Molineux and ahead of Sunday’s game against Leicester City, but also because of the current injury situation.

Seven first team players are out due to injury or illness so these youngsters have a great opportunity against Bournemouth.

You would expect the senior stars to return for the Premier League, but impress, like Foden and Garcia have done previously, and Guardiola has shown he will keep young prospects in and around the squad.

Stats and facts

  • City have never lost to Bournemouth in a competitive fixture. P16 W14 D2.
  • We have have scored 18 goals and conceded just five in the last five meetings between the two sides at the Etihad Stadium.
  • Pep Guardiola‘s side have won 18 out of 19 Carabao Cup ties since the start of the 2017/18 season. Our only defeat coming in the second leg of the 2019/20 semi-final against Manchester City.
  • In that period, we have scored 41 goals and conceded just 11.

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