Will the Sky Blues stumble again against the surprise London team?
If the Premier League season were already over, as things stand Manchester City would not be the only team to enter the Champions League again. Surprise team West Ham, currently fourth in the table with 23 points out of a possible 36, would also have made it. The Hammers have won four of their last five league games and only just inflicted their first Premier League defeat of the season on Liverpool FC in a 3-2 home win.
However, the Hammers, who have won just one of their last 15 away Premier League games at the Sky Blues (one draw, 13 defeats), travel as heavy underdogs. Ahead of the game between Manchester City and West Ham, the odds are clearly swinging in the direction of the home side.
Under Pep Guardiola, the Citizens are still unbeaten in ten league games against the Irons. But at least in the League Cup, West Ham stumbled against the Sky Blues at the end of October, losing on penalties after 90 goalless minutes in London.
Speaking of goalless: Most eventualities in this not easy-to-pick match between Manchester City and West Ham are covered by betting on a maximum of one team scoring and thus at least one remaining goalless again. After all, Guardiola’s eleven have played to nil in six of their last seven Premier League home games.
Manchester City – Statistics & current form
Manchester City have won the English Championship seven times so far, celebrating the big win three times in the last four seasons alone. In addition, they reached the final of the Champions League for the first time this summer, although Pep Guardiola’s team lost to Chelsea.
However, that hasn’t rattled the Sky Blues for long, who celebrated an impressive 2-1 home win over PSG during the week to clinch early group victory with one matchday remaining in Group A.
Without conceding a goal in five of their six league home games
The Citizens can now go into their next Premier League home game motivated and focused, in which they must prolong their recent series. Since the surprising 0:2 home defeat against Crystal Palace, City have won four games in a row with 11:2 goals.
The defeat against the Glaziers, among others, means that they are currently three points off first place. However, the momentum is in the favour of the defending champions, who have taken 13 points from a possible 18 at home and, with the exception of the 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, have not conceded a goal in any of their other five league games at the Etihad Stadium.
Only 0.5 goals conceded per Premier League game
Pep Guardiola’s side also boast an extremely solid defensive record, conceding just six goals in 12 league matches – a mere 0.5 goals conceded per game.
Accordingly, it makes a lot of sense to bet on a maximum of one team scoring against West Ham. After all, in the League Cup, which the Sky Blues have won four times in a row, the clash with the Irons ended 0-0 before City went out on penalties. So today is also about taking revenge for that.
Predicted Manchester City line-up:
Ederson – Cancelo – Laporte – Stones – Walker – Gündogan – Rodri – Silva – Foden – Sterling – Palmer
Last matches played by Manchester City:
Champions League Grp. A
11/24 2021 – Manchester City 2 – 1 Paris Saint-Germain
Premier League
11/21 2021 – Manchester City 3 – 0 Everton
11/06 2021 – Manchester United 0 – 2 Manchester City
Champions League Grp. A
11/03 2021 – Manchester City 4 – 1 Club Bruges
Premier League
10/30 2021 – Manchester City 0 – 2 Crystal Palace
West Ham – Statistics & current form
West Ham United have won the FA Cup three times and, after their first triumph in England’s premier cup competition, topped that success with their first and only European title just a year later when they won the European Cup Winners’ Cup overall in 1965.
Sixth in pre-season, the Hammers also returned to the international stage this summer after a 15-year absence, qualifying for the Europa League for the first time since 2006/07.
Early group winners in the Europa League
Just like Manchester City, West Ham United also wrapped up an early group win as part of English Week. Little burned in a 2-0 away win at Rapid Vienna for the Irons, who are now unstoppable at the top of Group H with 13 points from a possible 15 from five games
On course for Champions League with 23 points from a possible 36
With 23 points out of a possible 36, the Hammers are currently in fourth place and can even dream of their first ever Champions League appearance. There is still a long way to go until then.
But considering that they have already beaten teams like Leicester City (4:1), Tottenham (1:0) and even Liverpool (3:2) in the league, the Londoners can be expected to achieve a good result at the Etihad Stadium. Only the bookies still have the Moyes team as underdogs.
Predicted West Ham line-up:
Fabiánski – Cresswell – Zouma – Dawson – Johnson – Rice – Soucek – Fornals – Benrahma – Bowen – Antonio
Last matches played by West Ham:
Europa League Grp. H
11/25 2021 – Rapid Vienna 0 – 2 West Ham
Premier League
11/20 2021 – Wolverhampton 1 – 0 West Ham
11/07 2021 – West Ham 3 – 2 Liverpool FC
Europa League Grp. H
11/04 2021 – KRC Genk 2 – 2 West Ham
Premier League
10/31 2021 – Aston Villa 1 – 4 West Ham
Manchester City – West Ham Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 59 – 18 – 38
There have been a total of 115 meetings between the two teams so far and with 59 victories, more than half of all duels have gone to the Sky Blues, who have also left little to be desired against the Hammers recently. In the ten league encounters since Pep Guardiola took charge, there have been nine City wins (one draw) alone.
Manchester City – West Ham Tip
For Manchester City against West Ham, the prediction has to take into account the strong form of the Londoners, who have already defeated several big hitters and were recently responsible for Liverpool FC losing their first league game. However, the Hammers must first crack the Sky Blues’ home form, who have kept a clean sheet in five of their six league home games.
However, West Ham just held City 0-0 in the EFL Cup and then celebrated a surprise victory in the penalty shootout. The goalless draw in particular should therefore be covered by the final tip, which is why we choose the bet that a maximum of one team will score.
