Manchester City are missing Jeremy Doku today as they get their Premier League campaign under way against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium.
The Belgian winger started the 3-0 Community Shield defeat by Arsenal in Cardiff last weekend but was forced off at half-time and replaced by Jack Grealish. Doku picked up a calf injury which will keep him sidelined for at least two more weeks.
Maresca confirms Doku absence
It is bad news for Enzo Maresca, who has had to rejig his front four to make up for the absence of a key player.
“At the moment, the only one [unavailable] is Jeremy Doku,” Maresca said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “Unfortunately in the last game at half-time he was complaining about a calf pain. Idea was that he would come off, the change was planned and at the moment, [he’s out for] 2-3 weeks, no more than that.”
Haaland leads reshaped attack
Erling Haaland — showcasing a shock new look after cutting off his famous long hair — keeps his place up front, though the make-up of the trio behind him has been rearranged. Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo remain and are joined by Nico O’Reilly, who moves forward as Josko Gvardiol shifts to left-back and Marc Guehi comes into central defence to partner Ruben Dias.
Matheus Nunes has shaken off a muscle issue suffered in the warm-up in Cardiff and takes a seat on the bench, with Abdukodir Khusanov staying at right-back and Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal as usual. Mateo Kovacic drops to the bench, with new £116million signing Elliot Anderson joined in the midfield engine room by Rico Lewis. Versatile duo Lewis and O’Reilly could also swap roles.
Marmoush among substitutes
Omar Marmoush is surprisingly named among the substitutes despite being expected to join Tottenham soon along with City team-mate Savinho, who is not involved at all once more.
Man City XI: Donnarumma, Khusanov, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol, Lewis, Anderson, O’Reilly, Semenyo, Foden, Haaland
Subs: Rulli, Marmoush, Kovacic, Cherki, Nico, Grealish, Ait-Nouri, Reis, Nunes
Injured: Doku
Time and date: 2pm BST on Sunday August 23, 2026. Venue: Etihad Stadium. How to watch: Sky Sports.
