Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has acknowledged that "there's a real good chance" Pep Guardiola's side could be knocked out of the FA Cup by Bournemouth on Sunday.
With a semi-final place at Wembley at stake, Man City travel to the South Coast to lock horns with fellow Premier League side Bournemouth in an intriguing quarter-final tie at the Vitality Stadium.
The Citizens, who are bidding to reach a record seventh consecutive FA Cup semi-final, are currently the bookmakers' favourites to win this season's competition, but they have been handed arguably one of the toughest draws at this stage in one of the most open FA Cup races for years.
Indeed, Man City were deservedly beaten 2-1 away against Bournemouth in the Premier League back in November, one of nine disappointing defeats suffering during an alarming poor run of form towards the end of last year.
Guardiola stated after the match that his team "couldn't match the intensity" of Bournemouth and lacked the "physicality and speed" of the Cherries, who have since gone from strength to strength under Andoni Iraola this season and remain in the mix to not only win silverware but also secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.
"It's going to be really difficult," McInerney told Sports Mole. "I think Bournemouth were one of the sides that gave us that sort of cold slap in the face, the real awakening of where City were back then in the middle of winter.
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Will Bournemouth run Man City ragged again in FA Cup tie?
"Bournemouth just ran us ragged, they were so much more organised, so much more physical, they made City look old and injured and tired and sort of very dated.
"That [defeat] to me felt like the most chastening. I know Spurs beat us 4-0, but it was Bournemouth running us ragged that felt like, 'Oh man we stink right now' and that was the truth of it."
McInerney has heaped praise on several Bournemouth stars including left-back Milos Kerkez - one name who he believes that Man City should look to sign this summer - and in-demand teenage centre-back Dean Huijsen.
"Kerkez has been a big part of [Bournemouth's success this season]," he added. "They've got Huijsen, the young centre-back being linked to Real Madrid, he's been absolutely brilliant, a quality footballer, one I would love to see at City by the way for what it's worth. I think he's a would be a perfect signing for Manchester City.
"It's not just him, [Antoine] Semenyo has been absolutely brilliant, [Justin] Kluivert's been fantastic for them, everything about the way that Bournemouth play is just so aggressive and so composed.
"There's sort of a chaos in the way that they go forward and they're sort of revel in that, because they have the game intelligence and the physicality to react to that situation, which is something that City have struggled with.
"City are a team that thrives in composure and control, whereas Bournemouth are the exact opposite of that. They're the antidote. Given City have lacked the technical ability to play their game and keep the ball, we've seen Bournemouth just run them ragged and that to me is our biggest fear."
'There's a real good chance Man City could go out'
McInerney believes that Man City have improved slightly since losing at Bournemouth just over four months ago, with their four January signings playing a "big part" under Guardiola, but he is still fearing the prospect of FA Cup elimination to a Bournemouth side who will "fancy their chances" on Sunday.
"I think City are better since then. I think the signings have been a big part of that," said McInerney. "We've been able to play a younger defence, younger midfield, younger forward line.
"Guardiola's leaning on [Jeremy] Doku and Savinho as well as [Omar] Marmoush who's come in. Nico Gonzalez has helped a lot physically. I think we've got much more of a balance with [Abdukodir] Khusanov as well available a lot. That's helped our defensive attributes a lot.
"I do think City are a better side from those sort of real bad days, but our results haven't been great, so Bournemouth will fancy their chances. Given the fact that it's away at Bournemouth, there's a real good chance we could go out.
"I would love to pretend that City will go through, but as much as we've been a little bit better, we still haven't had the answers recently. We haven't been disastrous in the way that we were a few months ago, but we still couldn't beat Brighton. We did lose to Forest and those games were close. I think it could have gone either way for both sides, but that is our level now.
"We are only just, in my opinion, of the quality of Forest or Brighton or Bournemouth, we're not better than them. Given the fact that Bournemouth are at home, I think they'll be looking at City and going, 'Yeah, we can beat them. Why not?', because that's our current level.
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'Man City have been scrambling around for a backup identity'
"We're just challenging those sides. We're not the City that would challenge Liverpool or Arsenal. We're now just in that pile of sides behind them where we're a good side, we're not a great side, so Bournemouth will fancy their chances."
McInerney continued: "I think City over the past several months have been scrambling around for a backup identity. We haven't got that traditional Manchester City ability. We've been trying to find solutions on the fly.
"I don't think City are as locked in as Bournemouth are. Around half the team has joined in the past 18 months, so it's a new City side that are very young, that are not at their peak and I don't think they can just slide back into the rhythm perfectly.
"Don't get me wrong, there's still quality there, but it hasn't got the composure or the experience of previous Manchester City sides, so I think it's going to be an issue for City, unfortunately."
McInerney has also shared his thoughts on which players he would like to see named in Guardiola's starting lineup, with 15 first-team players having now returned from international duty.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion ahead of Man City's trip to Bournemouth.
Oliver Thomas
