Preview: Manchester City vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

In-form Manchester City will endeavour to claim a fifth consecutive Premier League victory when they welcome an out-of-sorts West Ham United outfit to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams butt heads for the first time since January this year when Erling Haaland scored twice in a 4-1 top-flight home win for the Citizens.

Match preview

Since suffering a slender 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa at the end of October, Man City have turned a corner in recent weeks as they have won 10 of their last 12 matches across all competitions (L2) and have scored at least two goals in all 10 of those victories.

The Citizens extended their winning streak to six games and punched their ticket to the EFL Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 home win over Brentford on Wednesday night, three days after claiming a statement 3-0 victory at Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Sitting second in the table and just two points behind leaders Arsenal, Pep Guardiola’s side could momentarily climb to the summit with a win over West Ham before the Gunners lock horns with Everton in Saturday’s evening kickoff. City could remain top at Christmas, though, if Mikel Arteta’s men fail to win.

Man City will rightly be confident of success at the Etihad this weekend, as they have won the most home games (12) and have collected the most home points (36) in the Premier League since the start of April, with a 2-0 loss to Tottenham the only blot on their copybook. City have won their last seven at home since that defeat, last winning more in a row at the Etihad between January and November 2023 (15 in a row).

The Citizens are unbeaten in their last 19 PL encounters with West Ham (W16 D3), winning each of their last five and scoring at least three goals on each occasion. Only Arsenal against Sunderland (2002 to 2007) and Man United against Nottingham Forest (1996 to 2022) have won six successive matches against an opponent while scoring 3+ goals each time.

Two wins, four draws and five defeats have been posted by West Ham across 11 Premier League matches since the arrival of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, with a five-game winless run (D3 L2) keeping them firmly in the relegation picture heading into the festive period.

Back-to-back 1-1 draws with Manchester United and Brighton were followed by a 3-2 home defeat against Aston Villa last weekend, leaving the Hammers 18th in the table and three points adrift of safety. Defeat on Saturday would therefore guarantee their place in the relegation zone at Christmas.

This would represent the fifth time West Ham have been in the bottom three at Christmas in the Premier League, but supporters will take some comfort from the fact that they have avoided relegation on the two previous occasions they were not rock bottom of the table (18th in 2006-07 and 19th in 2009-10).

West Ham travel to the Etihad this weekend having drawn their last three Premier League away games, taking the lead in two of those before being pegged back. The Hammers have not drawn four successive matches on the road since a run between November and January 2000.

Nuno is tasked with ending West Ham’s miserable record against Man City, with the Hammers losing 15 of their last 16 Premier League away encounters versus the Citizens and conceding two or more goals in 13 of those - the exception being a 2-1 victory in September 2015 under former boss Slaven Bilic.

Manchester City Premier League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

West Ham United Premier League form:

Team News

Man City’s Oscar Bobb tweaked his hamstring against Brentford in midweek and he is set to join Rodri (hamstring), Mateo Kovacic (ankle/heal), Jeremy Doku and John Stones (both leg) in the treatment room.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are also unavailable for selection as they are away on international duty with Egypt and Algeria respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Guardiola is set to revert to his strongest XI and that will include top scorer Erling Haaland, who has netted nine Premier League goals against West Ham, only scoring more against Wolves (10) – the Norwegian could become the ninth player to score 10+ goals against the Hammers, and only the third non-Englishman after Mohamed Salah and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Rayan Cherki - who scored a sensational opener against Brentford last time out - has assisted five goals in his last four PL home games despite playing just 223 minutes in those matches. The playmaker has played 282 minutes overall and among players to play 250+ minutes at a stadium in PL history, City’s No.10 assisting every 56 minutes at the Etihad is the best ratio.

As for West Ham, backup goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is still nursing a back injury, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf are both away on international duty with Senegal and DR Congo respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Nuno will weigh up whether to revert to a back five, with Kyle Walker-Peters and Oliver Scarles both in contention to start as wing-backs in the absence of Wan-Bissaka and Diouf.

Max Kilman could benefit from a change of formation as he would likely be recalled to start alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo at centre-back, protecting goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Matheus Fernandes scored a 29-second opener against Villa and is in line to continue in an advanced midfield role alongside playmaker Lucas Paqueta - once a target for Man City - while talisman Jarrod Bowen could lead the line, with Callum Wilson potentially dropping down to the substitutes’ bench.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez; Bernardo, Reijnders, Cherki, Foden; Haaland

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Mavropanos, Todibo, Kilman; Walker-Peters, Magassa, Potts, Scarles; Paqueta, Fernandes; Bowen

We say: Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United

It is difficult to look beyond a largely refreshed and high-flying Man City side that is brimming with confidence and will be regarded as firm favourites to get the better of a West Ham side finding it difficult to grind out positive results.

The Etihad is once again becoming a fortress for the Citizens, who should have few problems beating an opponent they have had plenty of success against over the years.

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