With an aim of clinching the three points out of the three in the beginning of the new Premier League season, the Manchester City will be in the London Stadium to play against West Ham United on the Saturday afternoon.
The Citizens are 2 wins up on the Hammers in the last two seasons and they triumphed
3-1 the last time they faced each other in
London roughly 365 days ago.
Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United team only managed a 2-1 Premier League lost to Aston Villa in his first game since joining the club but got their first win last weekend with a 2-0 pleasant away at Crystal Palace.
After the initial 45 minutes that elapsed without any goals, Tomas Soucek put West Ham on the lead in the 67th minute, only for captain Jarrod Bowen to double the advantage in the 72nd minute, and the Hammers also recorded their first top-flight clean sheet since January – a personal best 19-match streak without a shutout.
West Ham have since qualified for the third round of the EFL Cup after narrowly defeating fellow top-flight sideBournemouth with a 1-0 scoreline at the London Stadium on Wednesday night in what could almost have been renamed the pre- VAR era after Bowen scored ‘ fortune’s goal in the 88th minute as West Ham substitute Mohammed Kudus’ shot hit Bowen’s arm before trickling into the
Bournemouth net.
Lopetegui’s side have been handed a difficult Third-round tie at holders
Liverpool in the next month but that is still far away as for now the team will be back into Premier League action with a difficult home match against Manchester city than an away fixture at Fulham.
Victories against Man City have remained elusive for the Hammers, more so in Premier league where they have not managed to beat the Citizens in the last seventeen encounters since the 2-1 reverse away victory in September, 2015 when manager Slaven Bilic was still in charge of the team.
Between two goals from Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne scored, and in the last moments, the Norwegian completed his hat-trick to ensure that City continued their remarkable record run of winning Premier League games by two goals or more to eleven games. They have also not lost any of their last 46 home games across all competitions.
In addition to having a great record versus
West Ham on the road, Man City has only lost once in their previous 14 league visits to the Hammers, and they have gone nine games without a loss since a 2-1 loss at Upton Park in October 2014.
Leading scorer Erling Haaland, the Golden Boot winner the previous two seasons, has scored four of those top-flight goals. Last weekend, he followed up his goal in a 2-0 opening win at Chelsea with his 10th Man City hat-trick in a 4-1 home victory against newly promoted Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys got off to a fantastic start at the Etihad Stadium when Sammie
Szmodics scored on his debut within the first seven minutes. However, that goal got the visitors ahead, and the reigning champions responded with three goals in the next four minutes, severely punishing the visitors.
Under Pep Guardiola, Man City has been comparatively sluggish to start, but they have already won the Community Shield and secured maximum points from their first two Premier League games this season, with six goals scored and only one conceded.
Experienced left-back Aaron Cresswell is recovering from a hamstring injury, and West Ham manager Lopetegui has said that he will get scanned to find out the extent of his condition.
Alvarez, who made his debut for the Hammers in midweek after spraining his hamstring during a Mexico international match in June, is a strong contender to stay in the starting lineup; Soucek, Guido Rodriguez, and James Ward-Prowse will also be competing for a midfield starting spot.
Regarding Man City, Rodri has returned to training this week, raising the possibility that he may play at the London Stadium despite Bobb’s probable several-month absence following surgery for a fractured
leg.
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