City have been untouchable for the Cherries

I doubt I am the only AFCB fan who looks at the visit of Man City with a great deal of trepidation. It's not just because that Pep Guardiola's side have regained their swagger as they sit high in the table with the Champion's League places now fully in focus, but it's the fact that of all the sides in the AFCB have not come anywhere near matching the Blue half of Manchester in a Premier League game in three attempts - why should this game be any different?

AFCB at Man City last season.

There is no magic formula that Pep has sprinkled over his players to suddenly turn them back into world beaters, but on their day everyone knows that Man City's players can beat any side -  after all, they beat Barcelona earlier in the season. Now they have a Brazilian star striker that is in hot enough form to knock Aguero out of the side. Gabriel Jesus has been filling the sports pages over recent days with his destruction of Swansea City last time out, and he's only just warming up I feel, having seen what Romelu Lukaku did to the Cherries last week.

Vincent Kompany might even be back to ensure that City are for once solid at the back and if City's defence has been a little 'open door policy' shall we say, then AFCB's has been like a chasm. Finding weaknesses among City's ranks will keep Howe and Tindall awake at night and if they do spot a chink or two, there is also a need to find a way for AFCB's players to exploit it.

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With Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and David Silva also rather useful at scoring goals and with Sergio Aguero to join the party in the second half, for once it is appropriate to still call Eddie Howe's side little Bournemouth. Yet, Howe will draw upon what the Cherries did earlier in the season to hold Spurs at home and to come back and beat Liverpool. These are all top sides and it may be a while since the Cherries played as well as they did in the first half against Arsenal, the genie is out of the bag in that Howe knows his players can play that well - it's just a case of tapping back into it.

It seems funny that this is what AFCB fans craved for only 18 months ago - more games against the best in the land. Now it is probably the last thing they need in terms of confidence. But if AFCB's form is to turnaround, why not do it against a team that is expected to win a Champion's League place? AFCB have to grow at some point - it's either that or curl up and join the others at the foot of the league.

If Howe and the players believe City are untouchable then AFCB fans are in for a rough night. Man City want to chase down Spurs and Chelsea and it won't matter to then that they are away from home. But if our manager can find a plan to knock City out of their stride, I'd say it would be his biggest achievement to date.

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