Manchester City travel to unbeaten West Ham United on Saturday afternoon looking to maintain their 100% winning start to the new season.
The reigning Premier League champions have looked terrifyingly good in the early exchanges of the season, largely because they’ve coasted to 12 points from a possible 12 without really clicking into top gear.
West Ham have also enjoyed a strong start to the season, in stark contrast to how they kicked off their 2022/23 campaign. David Moyes’ Hammers have taken maximum points from games against Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town, with their only blip coming with a share of the spoils against Bournemouth on the opening day.
Here’s 90min’s preview of their clash in the capital.
West Ham vs Man City H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (all competitions)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
BBC Radio 5 Live, Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (studio updates only) |
|
United States |
USA Network, Universo, Fubo, DirecTV Stream, Sling Blue, Sling Latino |
|
Canada |
FuboTV |
West Ham will be able to call upon Czech Republic captain Tomas Soucek after he missed the 2-1 win over Luton Town with a concussion.
He could come back into the side at the expense of Said Benrahma, with David Moyes perhaps reverting back to the starting lineup that impressively dismantled Brighton 3-1 on their own patch.
Mohammed Kudus may have to wait for a little longer for a full debut, leaving Michail Antonio with the responsibility of leading the line, ably supported by Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta.
West Ham predicted lineup vs Man City (4-1-4-1): Areola; Coufal, Zouma (c), Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez; Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Paqueta; Antonio
Manchester City have a number of injury concerns ahead of their trip to the capital.
Kevin De Bruyne’s absence is perhaps the most significant – he’s not expected to return to action until December at the earliest – but Pep Guardiola could also be without John Stones and Jack Grealish, the latter of whom is struggling with a thigh injury.
Mateo Kovacic is also a doubt in central midfield, potentially allowing Bernardo Silva to shift in-field and Phil Foden to start out wide on the right.
Man City predicted lineup vs West Ham (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Ake; Rodri; Foden, Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Doku, Haaland
West Ham have enjoyed a superb start to the new season, putting behind them a rather chaotic transfer window to get ten points on the board from a possible 12.
It will be a big ask for the Hammers to continue the momentum here though, with City looking frighteningly good despite losing De Bruyne to injury on the opening day of the season. Other injury woes are an obvious concern for Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff, but they have an abundance of quality in their squad that allows for seamless rotation.
Erling Haaland scored three goals in two appearances against West Ham last season, including two at London Stadium, and he’ll fancy his chances of firing City to another three points to make it five wins from five games.
Prediction: West Ham 0-3 Man City
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90Mins
