HARRY Arter believes Pep Guardiola has taken football to the “next level”, describing the new Manchester City boss’ impact as “mad”.

Arter looks set to keep his place when Cherries face the daunting task of taking on Guardiola’s title favourites at the Etihad this afternoon (3pm).

City warmed up for the Premier League clash by thrashing Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

And while Arter insisted priority number one was making sure Cherries don’t suffer the same fate, he admitted he was relishing the opportunity to take on a Guardiola side.

Arter said: “I watched the Manchester derby on Match of the Day and I think City are an unbelievable side. I watched them against Sunderland and I know they nicked a goal late but the way they play, I haven’t seen a team play like that ever in the Premier League.

“Guardiola has taken football to the next level. It’s mad what he is doing but it is working.

“The way the centre-backs and full backs come in, these are things that other people wouldn’t even think about doing, but he does it and he’s making it work.

“I think every manager can look to him, which I think 99 per cent probably do, to learn from and it will be a really good experience to play against one of his sides.”

Arter missed Cherries’ 5-1 defeat at the Etihad last season through injury, but insisted Cherries had put that dark day in the North West firmly behind them.

He added: “We didn’t give a Bournemouth account of ourselves and we didn’t go there and play the way we did against Chelsea, or even against Liverpool away.

“I think City will be better than they were that time around, so if we go there with the mentality we did last time it won’t be a good day for us. But I feel we’ve all learned as a team and individually and we will go there a lot better prepared and hopefully surprise a few people.

“I don’t think there is anyone in the world that will back Bournemouth to win or expect Bournemouth to win so the pressure is still on City. Hopefully we can catch them cold. They have just come out of the Manchester derby and I’m sure they put a lot of effort into that as well as the Champions League game.”