Man City vs West Ham: preview, team news, how to watch and prediction

Manchester City will welcome West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

After winning the league title in the last four consecutive campaigns, the Citizens were the favourite to make it five in a row. They even enjoyed a bright start to this season, accumulating 23 points from the first nine games.

However, since then, Pep Guardiola’s side have been in dire form over the last few months. In the last 14 games in all competitions, they have won only two games.

As a result, they have slipped down to sixth in the league with 31 points from 19 games, sitting 14 points behind the league leaders Liverpool and four points off the top four spot.

After remaining winless in the last five games in all competitions, Man City returned to winning ways against Leicester City last time out so they will be hoping to continue the momentum in this game as well.

On the other hand, after dismissing David Moyes, West Ham appointed Julen Lopetegui as the new manager ahead of this season. But, they have had a disappointing campaign thus far this season, sitting 13th in the table with 23 points from 19 games.

So, speculation surrounding Lopetegui’s future started to emerge and following the defeat versus Leicester City last month, he reportedly came close to being sacked.

However, after remaining unbeaten in the next four games, he managed to ease the pressure a bit. But, following the 5-0 defeat against Liverpool last time out and if they lose this game by a big margin, the Spanish boss could find himself under pressure once again.

Previous meetings

Man City defeated the Hammers 3-1 at London Stadium when the two sides met in the reverse fixture in the Premier League earlier this season. The Citizens have been dominating this fixture in recent years as they have won all the last five consecutive games.

The Hammers haven’t been able to win against Man City in the Premier League since 2015 and that victory came at Etihad Stadium. So, they will be hoping to replicate the same this weekend and they won’t have a better opportunity to do that than this, considering the woeful form the Citizens have been in recently.

How to watch

The game will kick off at 3 PM UK time and the match won’t be televised live in the UK due to the blackout rule.

Supporters can also buy Manchester City tickets from the club website or through trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.com.

Team news

Man City have struggled with several injury problems in recent times and they will be without Rodrigo Hernandez, Oscar Bobb and Ruben Dias for this game owing to their respective problems with Rodri’s season all but over. The Citizens named their squad in the last game against Leicester without Matheus Nunes, John Stones and Ederson so the trio are in doubt.

As for West Ham, they have lost Jarrod Bowen – one of their best players – after fracturing his foot last time out against Liverpool, while Michail Antonio isn’t in contention to feature either following his recent car accident.

Lukasz Fabianski is also set to remain sidelined for this game for the head injury that he sustained against Southampton. But, the good news is that Tomas Soucek and Guido Rodriguez are available for selection after serving their suspension last weekend.

Predicted line-ups

Guardiola has shuffled his goalkeepers this season and Stefan Ortega is likely to start in goal this weekend, in that case, Ederson could be among the substitutes if he returns.

Rico Lewis could be deployed in the right-back position, while Josko Gvardiol could be on the opposite side with Manual Akanji and Nathan Ake likely to be the centre-back partnership. Therefore, Kyle Walker would have to settle for a place on the bench.

Mateo Kovacic is expected to continue in the deep-lying playmaker position amid Rodri’s absence with Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne in the attacking midfield position. So, Ilkay Gundogan could feature off the bench.

Erling Haaland would keep hold of his place in the centre-forward position and on either side of the Norwegian, Savinho and Bernardo Silva should continue. The Brazilian opened his account in the Man City colours last time out against the Foxes and will be hoping to maintain his form in this game as well.

Expected Man City line-up vs West Ham

Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Foden, De Bruyne; Savinho, Haaland, Silva

For West Ham, Lopetegui could deploy a 3-4-2-1 formation in this game with Alphonse Areola set to be between the sticks amid Fabianski’s absence. In front of the Frenchman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman could be the back three with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson likely to be the two fullbacks.

Soucek could commence in the engine room alongside Edson Álvarez so Carlos Soler and Lucas Paqueta would have to make do with a place on the bench.

Crysencio Summerville and Mohammed Kudus should be the two wide forwards with Niclas Fullkrug in the number nine position.

Expected West Ham United line-up vs Man City

Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Kudus, Soucek, Alvarez, Summerville; Fullkrug

Key players

Haaland has won the Gold Boot in the last two consecutive campaigns in the Premier League and he enjoyed a stellar start to this season, scoring 10 goals in the first five league appearances.

However, he has netted only four goals in the last 14 league matches. After failing to score in four successive games in all competitions, the Norwegian broke his deadlock last time out against Leicester.

Despite his recent struggles, Haaland is still one of the best players in the world so the visitors will have to find a way to stop him to come away with a positive result from this encounter.

Foden became the best player in the Premier League last term but hasn’t been able to replicate the same performance thus far this season. On the other hand, De Bruyne has been the main creative player for the Citizens in recent years but he has been struggling with fitness problems in recent times.

If the duo can perform at their best in this fixture then the reigning Premier League champions’ chance of winning this game will multiply.

For West Ham, amid Bowen’s absence, the onus will be on Kudus to score goals and create opportunities for fellow attackers in this encounter.

Prediction

Despite Man City’s recent struggles, they will be coming into this game as a huge favourite. West Ham haven’t had great results against teams – who are currently top half of the table this season. So, it is going to be interesting to see how the game eventually unfolds on Saturday. Man City 3-1 West Ham