Premier League: Sky Blues can Hammer the Hammers!

Manchester City vs West Ham United

Second plays fourth in a mouth-watering Premier League clash at the Etihad on Sunday, when David Moyes’ West Ham head north to take on title favourites Manchester City.

Only three points separate second placed City from the Hammers, so a 5-0 away win could see the two teams swap places…and it would be worth see Pep Guardiola’s face if that happened! The Sky Blues have only conceded six goals all season, so in reality West Ham will have to settle for anything they can get. Add into the mix the recent memory of the Hammers dumping City out of the Carabao Cup on penalties and the Sky Blues will be keen to exact some revenge.    

Guardiola’s men have already settled one score this week, beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League  while West Ham were in action on Thursday night in a Europa League clash away to Rapid Vienna.  

Talking Points

Sublime City click through the gears

Since suffering a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, Manchester City have won four consecutive games, in some style and against some decent opponents, Club Brugges, Manchester United, Everton and Paris Saint-Germain.     

In their most recent victory the Sky Blues attacked PSG from the off and dominated their visitors, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and all; but they paid for their wastefulness in front of goal when Mbappe gave the visitors a lead early in the second half. City stayed cool and goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus gave them the victory to guarantee top spot in Group A. That was a statement Guardiola was keen to make as he tries to win Manchester City’s first Champions League title.

In a team with goals coming from every angle and any player, Bernardo Silva is top scoring with four, and as Belgian ace Kevin De Bruyne has been suffering from COVID the Portuguese wide man will expect a start, as will Jesus who has made five assists. Of course the excellent Phil Foden sits alongside De Bruyne as one of City’s two best creative players and he’ll make a start while, in defensive midfield, Rodri is finally stepping into the shoes of Fernandinho. He scored a screamer in City’s 3-0 win over Everton and wing back Joao Cancelo was sensational too, producing a brilliant ball to set up Raheem Sterling’s opener.

This is a team packed with quality from back to front and only inconsistency could cost them.   

Moyles shuffles his pack

The Hammers went into their Europa League tie against Vienna, top of Group H with ten points from four games and David Moyes took the opportunity to rest Michail Antonio and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski while also giving Pablo Fornals and Declan Rice a breather on the bench.  

The boss is using his squad to good effect having watched a tired display in a 1-0 defeat to Wolves last week, as Raul Jimenez scored the only goal of the game. The Hammers conceded possession and lost the shot counts by 15 to eight and five to three on target. With six goals to his name Antonio is the Hammers key player up front, while Rice is commanding in midfield and the manager wants them fresh and firing at the weekend.  

Moyes will be looking for the type of brave and all-action display which helped West Ham beat Liverpool two weeks ago, one of the Premier League 2021 results of the season so far; his team is more than capable and City must beware. 

History

Manchester City have won 30 of their 49 encounters with West Ham in the Premier League era, while the Hammers have picked up 11 wins and eight draws.

The most recent meeting saw West Ham stun the Sky Blues in the Carabao Cup, but in the last clash at the Etihad the Sky Blues won 2-1.  

Manchester City are on a winning streak of four games and haven’t lost to West Ham in the last five meetings at the Etihad, and they aren’t about to change that habit on Sunday. 

Betting Tip

	Manchester City vs West Ham United	Manchester City Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 1.90
	November 28, 22:00 (GMT+8)

The Hammers are at SBOTOP odds of 1.97 with the 1.50 goal start and that shows the likely spread, with a comfortable home win on the cards, though it might be a bigger margin if the Sky Blues hit their stride. 

The Premier League 2021 betting odds have been behind Manchester City to win the 2022 title from the off, and this is the type of game they need to win without too much fuss. Their loss to the Eagles, and West Ham in the EFL Cup, will be fresh in the memory and I don’t expect City to slip up again.  

2-0, at odds of 6.86, is the most likely outcome. 

 

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