Manchester City open their season on the road without Jeremy Doku, and suddenly the first game of the year reads like a checkpoint instead of a formality. New era, new setup, and now a hole on the wing before a ball is even kicked at the Vitality.
Bournemouth do not need City to be vulnerable to make this interesting. They just need City to look like a team still figuring itself out, and a missing attacker on opening day is exactly the kind of detail that turns a routine road trip into a live question. Every choice City make up front, who fills the width, who carries the buildup, gets read through the lens of what is not there.
None of this decides anything on its own. It just means the opener carries a little more weight than usual. Bournemouth at home against a City side already down a piece, do you trust the name on the badge or the shape of the squad that shows up.