England Premier League
Sunday 9th February 2020
Kick off at 4:30pm GMT
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
From the top 6 clubs only Manchester City are playing this weekend due to the first winter break in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s team has the chance to cut Liverpool’s lead to 19 and more importantly move 5 points clear of Leicester. Whilst the league title is over in theory, City will not want the embarrassment of finishing 3rd, which it would be for them, such is the high standard at the club.
Last weekend summed up City’s season perfectly and probably told us why they are so far behind Liverpool this season. City dominated the game against Tottenham, having countless shots on goal but could not convert them, and sometimes did not have the finishing touches in the final 3rd, perhaps that has been the main difference between the clubs. The Tottenham defeat was City's 6th of the season and Guardiola has never lost more than that as a professional manager. The way City are playing that record could be broken by the end of the season.
Still, no one really expects City to mess up here when they play West Ham at the Etihad, and the worry for the Hammers is that when a very good team lose, the next week they come back like a wounded animal looking for a big score.
City’s immediate form is not good though with just 4 points from their last 9, with the Tottenham loss and the draw against Crystal Palace. Home form has not been good for the club plain and simple and whilst most teams would accept earning 26 points from a possible 36, that just isn’t going to cut it for City. The club are even a little down on the amount of goals they score at home, so far it is 31, and Liverpool have scored more, even Leicester are only 5 goals shy of what City have.
As for West Ham meet a club that are in crisis. Fans have had enough and have already staged a silent protest against the owners and want them out. Mass protests are being staged for later in the month. David Moyes is looking more and more like he wasn’t the manager to rescue the team and his quote of “I win” in his first press conference back at the club is coming back to haunt him. His overall record in his second stint with the club is played 8, won 2, drawn 2 and lost 4, with a win rate of just 25%.
Form has seen West Ham slip to 18th and last weekend was a real choker for the club who were 3-1 up against Brighton at home with just a quarter of an hour left to play and the game ended 3-3. A draw, but the feeling of a loss for the club.
The Hammers have not won in the league since New Years Day in Moyes’ first game in charge when they beat Bournemouth 4-0. Away form has seen the club lose their last 3 matches in a row and they have lost 50% of their games on the road.
Team News:
Manchester City: Aymeric Laporte could be included in the squad and will be assessed. Raheem Sterling is ruled out with a hamstring injury and could miss the next two weeks. Oleksandr Zinchenko is suspended after being sent off last week.
West Ham: Felipe Anderson is being pencilled in to return for the end of the month with a back injury but he is back in training and is 50/50 to return for this game.
Man City vs West Ham Head to Head:
Last season Manchester City won this fixture 1-0.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Manchester City won 5-0.
Manchester City have won the last 7 meetings over West Ham in a row.
Manchester City have scored 14 goals against West Ham in their last four meetings.
Man City vs West Ham Prediction:
Manchester City have been hit and miss at times this season but we don’t expect them to lose this match or come even near to doing it. But the bookmakers think this too and they are huge odds on to win, unbackable really. Some have West Ham at 26.00 to win which tells you everything you need to know. Not only are West Ham going through poor form but the club are in a crisis and there is friction with the fans.
So what will be David Moyes plan? Much like the Liverpool game one expects where the Hammers set up five at the back and defended for long periods and then tried to counter, that was at home and they had some chances but ultimately lost 2-0. We expect this match to be a bigger defeat for them which is something they will want to avoid given that goal difference could be ‘the difference’ come the end of the season. For City Sterling will be a miss but he hasn’t been in the best form anyway and of course they have players of quality to step right in and do the job.
Man City vs West Ham Betting Tips:
Manchester City to be leading the game at 30 minutes at 1.80
Anytime goalscorer: Phil Foden at 2.50
Correct Score: Manchester City to win 4-0 or 4-1 at 8.00 and 12.00
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