City Host The Hammers

Manchester City host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as they bid to get a win before they embark on their winter break. 

City haven’t scored in their last two games which is relatively unheard of for the blues since the arrival of Pep Guardiola nearly four years ago. With the Premier League seemingly out of reach for City as well with Liverpool almost out of sight Guardiola’s side may want to wrap up their top-four status as soon as possible to focus on the Champions League. 

There will be a familiar face in the away dugout as former Manchester United manager David Moyes is in the midst of his second stint at the Hammers. 

Both teams have fallen short of their expectations so far this season with City currently 22 points behind Liverpool having lost 6 games already. West Ham sit in the relegation zone with 24 points and have already sacked former City manager Manuel Pellegrini earlier on in the season in an attempt to beat the drop. 

City come into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend in a game that they dominated. It was a similar fashion to their defeat at home to Manchester United in the game before. The Blues dominated the game and had countless chances but they couldn’t put the ball in the net. Their confidence in goal must be lacking and they will view Sunday’s game as a big opportunity to find the net again. 

West Ham’s last game was also a difficult one as they twice threw away a two-goal lead at home to relegation rivals Brighton as they drew 3-3. West Ham do have a good squad with international players but for some reason, it hasn’t quite clicked at the London Stadium this season. 

The two teams played each other on the opening day of the season with City coming out as 5-0 winner at the London Stadium. 

City have a few injury worries with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling definitely out of the game. Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy are doubtful with Oleksander Zinchenko suspended after his sending off at Spurs. 

West Ham will be without Felipe Anderson, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko who are all injured. 

Players to watch: 

City striker Sergio Agüero has ten goals in 13 matches against West Ham, scoring a penalty in the two most recent clashes.

West Ham’s Issa Diop, meanwhile, has two goals in his last four PL matches, opening the scoring in the first half on both occasions.