Manchester City will host West Ham United in the Premier League this weekend at the Etihad Stadium, Softfootball reports. City remain in solid form and their most recent 2-0 win over Brentford has added to their six match winning streak in all competitions.
They also remain unbeaten in their last 11 home games and sit just two points behind Arsenal who are at the top of the Premier League table. Therefore, this match is an important one as winning it will help them climb to the top of the table.
West Ham posted the scheduled match on their official X handle,
Historically, City has dominated in their meetings with West Ham, winning 16 games and drawing 3 in their last 19 league matches. Meanwhile, West Ham hasn’t been in good form and has struggled this season.
They currently stand near the relegation zone. After their 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester United, they lost 3-2 to Aston Villa, making it five games without a win. As a result, they’ll need a strong performance to win this match against Manchester City.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden who drove City to a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace remain key attacking threats for their club while West Ham will hope their forwards can cause problems.
Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola talked about his team and their performance in a pre match conference which was shared on the club’s official X handle. He said,
I think we got results but there are a lot of things we need to do better. Still we are not in the position in the way we play that we should be. But it helps that the mentality and commitment is incredible and it helps us be there. Many things are positive but in the way we play we are not at the level required to compete to win the titles but the margin is there to improve and that is nice.
Watch the full pre-match conference below:
West Ham coach, Nuno Espírito Santo also spoke ahead of the match in a pre-match interview shared on the club’s official X handle;
Team News
Manchester has some injury concerns, Jeremy Doku, Rodri, Mateo Kovačić and John Stones are likely unavailable. For West Ham, Lukasz Fabianski is out injured and his participation is in doubt. Also, there are no major suspensions reported from both clubs.
Possible Lineups
Manchester City (4-3-3)
Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Silva, Reijnders; Foden, Cherki, Haaland.
West Ham (4-3-2-1)
Areola; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Todibo, Kilman; Magassa, Potts, Fernandes; Paquetá, Bowen; Summerville
Prediction
With City’s recent strong record and high numbers of wins even in their head-to-head matches, West Ham could have a tough time trying to defeat them. The game could end up in a 3-1 win for Manchester City.
