Eddie Howe says Bournemouth's poor record against Manchester City 'inspires' his side

Eddie Howe says Bournemouth are getting closer to taking points off Manchester City and insists their poor record against them "inspires" his side.

Bournemouth have never beaten City in a competitive match and have failed to earn a single point against them since being promoted to the Premier League in 2015.

Howe's team host the champions on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports, and despite that daunting record, the Bournemouth boss is using it as motivation.

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"It inspires me," Howe said. "We've got to try and turn that around and use that record to inspire us in this game. I don't think we're the only team to suffer a bad record against Manchester City in recent years.

"They're an outstanding team and every time we've played against them we've come off the pitch learning more about ourselves and what we have to do to grow and become better. We try and embrace these challenges and not look at it fearfully.

"I think the two games against them last season were pretty strong. We felt we were competitive without showing our best attributes but we managed to limit their main strengths for spells of the games.

"They've just got quality and they can hurt you in any moment of the game and we've just come on the wrong side of the games against them, but I'd like to think we're getting closer.

"We know historically that if we perform at our very best we've got a chance of beating anybody and I think that's been the story of our Premier League journey."

Can Bournemouth stop Sterling?

City started the season with a 5-0 win over West Ham but drew their next game 2-2 against Tottenham at the Etihad. One man who scored in both of those matches was Raheem Sterling, taking his tally to four goals already this season.

However, his record against Bournemouth is arguably even more impressive. Since they were promoted, the City forward has scored eight goals and made two assists in just seven games against them.

"He's a player who's done very well against us in recent seasons and he's an outstanding talent," Howe said.

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"He's added a huge consistent run of goals to his game which has made him even better and he's certainly someone who we'll have to keep quiet.

"You look through their team though and they've got other players in the attacking positions that you're going to have to deal with, but we hope to keep him quiet and nullify his strengths. He's certainly in very good form at the moment."

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