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The fantastic Champions League victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach has to be part of the past for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, because now there are three straight domestic games, and all of them matter.
First up, the doors of the Etihad Stadium will be open for the visit of Bournemouth, one of the nicest teams in the league. Not one of the best, the nicest. They have a lovely name, a lovely stadium, a really nice manager and great fans. Their football team isn't great enough to pose a real threat to an in-form City, but Eddie Howe is a great manager and will look to get a result on Saturday after picking up important points in the last couple of games.
Pep Guardiola is happy to see his squad getting healthier, and after Gundogan's great debut, only Vincent Kompany is yet to play this season because of injury. David Silva has a minor hamstring problem, and will be rested against the Cherries to be ready for a double-header with Swansea next week. Other than that, there are no fresh injury concerns, and Pep can look forward to having a strong team playing on Saturday.
There are three games over the next seven days, and Guardiola will rotate his squad to preserve fitness and have a strong side for every match. With that in mind, we might see some changes to the side that dominated Gladbach, with these players starting on Saturday:
Claudio Bravo
Bacary Sagna - John Stones - Aleksandar Kolarov - Gael Clichy
Fernando
Leroy Sané - Kevin De Bruyne - Fabian Delph - Nolito
Kelechi Iheanacho
Pep usually rotates his full-backs, which means Sagna and Clichy will probably return to the lineup to face Bournemouth, with Zabaleta's fitness being carefully treated. Nico Otamendi played a lot of football over the last month, including in the international break, and it might be a good idea to rest the Argentine center-back on Saturday.
In midfield, Fernandinho is also likely to be on the bench, with Fernando coming on in his place. De Bruyne will probably be rested against Swansea in a League Cup game, which means he gets the start Saturday, with Delph coming in for Silva. Gundogan started against Gladbach and needs to have his minutes managed in the first few games since coming back from injury, and he will probably be a substitute against the Cherries.
Sergio Agüero is still suspended for the next two domestic, and Iheanacho has proven that he deserves to be his replacement, and with two goals in the last two games, he's in good form and Pep will likely feed the hot hand again and keep the Nigerian on the team this weekend. On the wings, Raheem Sterling will probably get a rest, with Leroy Sané making his full debut and Nolito returning to the team after sitting out against Gladbach.