Man City host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night in the English Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s side are in superb form with 13 wins in their last 14 matches across all competitions. The Hammers have suffered successive defeats and sit just four points above the drop zone. City have won their last six home matches vs West Ham and will go top of the table with a win.
Man City Form
As usual, Man City looks in superb form at the end of the season. In the league, it’s eight successive wins having previously only managed three victories in a row this season. Across all competitions, it’s one draw and 13 wins in 14 matches. They are very much on course to win a treble this season. This winning streak in the league has seen them beat Arsenal home and away and also thrash Liverpool.
After a 4-1 victory against The Reds, they also beat Southampton 4-1 and Leicester 3-1 (having led 3-0 after 25 minutes). A resounding and highly impressive 4-1 win against Arsenal saw go two points off the top with two games in hand. Over the weekend, they toiled somewhat in winning 2-1 at Fulham albeit their opponents only put up 0.19 xG. During this run, they’ve also beaten Bayern Munich 4-1 on aggregate and reached the FA Cup final after beating Sheffield United 3-0.
Man City Team News
Nathan Ake has missed the last two matches but he is back in training and in contention to play. Manuel Akanji has been covering the left-centre-back role brilliantly so Pep Guardiola may give Ake a few more days before recalling him. Kevin De Bruyne missed the Fulham win and this game is expected to come too soon.
Bernardo Silva is set to be recalled and considering Julian Alvarez’s fine goal over the weekend, it could be Riyad Mahrez that makes way. Alvarez would play as one of the two tens alongside Ilkay Gundogan. Phil Foden is also pushing for a start after a couple of sub outings since returning from injury.
Man City Motivation
City are 100% focused and they look in peak physical condition for the run-in. A win takes them top of the table and anything less would feel like a defeat.
Guardiola’s side will play to dominate this match with an eye on Antonio and Bowen’s pace for counters. The bench isn’t particularly deep so they won’t want to fall behind and have to chase the game.
West Ham Form
West Ham sits on 34 points, just four points above the 18th spot. Their season has been consistently inconsistent and they’ve never managed to pull away from the relegation battle. Including their UEFA Europa Conference League matches, they had been on a run of just one loss in ten matches, a 5-1 home loss to Newcastle. There were some strong results including winning 1-0 at Fulham and drawing 2-2 with Arsenal from 2-0 down.
A 4-0 win at Bournemouth was a huge result in the relegation dogfight and made it successive away wins having had just one victory on the road all season before that. Their last two matches have seen defeats, though. They allowed 20 shots at home in a 2-1 loss to Liverpool. On Saturday, David Moyes’ side lost 4-3 at Crystal Palace. They leaked those four strikes in a 42-minute spell and were outshot 16-8.
West Ham Team News
Moyes is still without big-money striker Gianluca Scamacca. Kurt Zouma injured his ankle at Crystal Palace and missed this match so Angelo Ogbonna is set to start. Emerson Palmieri was hooked at half-time at Selhurst Park for Aaron Cresswell so the latter could start here.
David Moyes may consider drafting Thilo Kehrer into the XI for this one and going to a back five. Pablo Fornals would be the man to drop out to facilitate a formation change.
West Ham Motivation
West Ham would take a point from this match and see it as a win. Moyes could set up with an extra defender or his side could be beaten heavily – they’ve conceded plenty of goals in recent weeks.
If City get a couple of goals in front in the first half, the Hammers may try to limit the damage. Goal difference vs teams below them (like Leicester) could be crucial.
Key Stats
Man City have won 13 of their last 14 matches in all competitions
Man City’s Haaland has scored 16 goals in his last 9 matches
Man City have won their last 6 home league matches vs West Ham
West Ham have taken just 12 points from 16 away matches this season (EPL)
WHU have seen over 3.5 goals in 4 of their last 5 matches
West Ham have kept 3 clean sheets in their last 7 league matches
Verdict
City are playing so well right now and they face a West Ham defence without Zouma. A convincing home team is expected but you’ll need to be creative to extract value from your bets.
Best Bet: Man City Win to Zero at 2.05
Value Bet: Man City Win (-2 spread) at 2.45
Value Bet: Man City Win and Haaland to Score First in the match at 3.32
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