The previous meeting between these two at the London Stadium ending in a 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City in the FA Cup third round. However, this match is unlikely to see a repeat of that and the hosts are fancied to get a bit more competitive this time around.
So the days of Dmitri Payet at West Ham United are now gone after the midfielder brokered a move to Olympique Marseille following his exile from the West Ham first team. Manager Slaven Bilic declared that Payet no longer wanted to play for the club on 12th January which proved to be a managerial masterstroke as his side have won both of their games since that announcement, boosting them up to 10th in the league.
Towards the start of the season, the defence was proving to be rather problematic and was leaking goals whilst it also seemed they were begging for a striker. However in the last couple of weeks, the defence has conceded just once in their last two Premier League matches while they’ve scored an impressive six goals in those two games, mainly thanks to the rejuvenation of former Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll.
Much was made of West Ham’s troubles at their new home of the London Stadium at the beginning of the campaign but it is actually worth noting that the Hammers have won five of their 11 league matches at this venue and have only lost two Premier League games on home soil since the end of September and both of those defeats came against Champions League football contenders Arsenal and Manchester United.
Manchester City managed to record a convincing 3-0 win over struggling Crystal Palace in the FA Cup at the weekend but, unfortunately for them, their Premier League form has been off-colour in recent times. City have won just one of their last four league matches, and even that was a lucky victory at home against Burnley, in an unwanted run that has included two losses. This poor form has seen City drop down to 5th, only two points ahead of sixth and a massive 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea.
Everybody knows that Pep Guardiola’s team are incredibly unbalanced with their excellent attacking play almost rendering worthlessness given their unreliable defence. It is no coincidence that City have one of the best goal-scoring records in the division having found the back of the net 43 times in 22 league games yet it’s also no fluke that they have the worst defensive record in the top five having let in 28 goals. They’ve also kept just four clean sheets – the 14th worst in the division.
Away form has been rather mixed all season for the Citizens as demonstrated by the fact they have gone on runs of five wins on the bounce as well as three consecutive defeats in all competitions. This inconsistency has been showcased again lately with their seven most recent away results reading W,L,W,L,W,L,W. However, they will be given a confidence boost by the fact they recently scored five at the London Stadium.
Given the attacking form of these two teams, I think we could see a bit of a goal-fest here. Additionally, ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has landed in each of the last four meetings between these two.
Overall, there can be no argument that City have the attacking strength to come out on top here. The Hammers don’t boast a pleasing record against the top teams and they could easily struggle again. However, they can surely muster more going forward than they did against City last time and should have enough quality to worry what is a shaky-looking back-line. With this in mind, ‘Manchester City to Win & Both Teams to Score’, at a very appealing 2/1, is a the bet to go for.
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