Defending Premier League champions Manchester City will be looking to regain their place at the top of the table when they host West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Citizens had lots of fun in the reverse fixture, they won it 4-0 in November with goals from David Silva and Raheem Sterling and a double from Leroy Sane. That was the sixth consecutive win for Manchester City against the Hammers, and all six had at least three goals scored in them. The last time West Ham won a match against Manchester City was in 2015, when they grabbed a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City had a break from the Premier League last weekend as they played the League Cup final, which they eventually won on penalties against Chelsea. That success should give Pep Guardiola's men a morale boost, but it might also worry them as it's their first match without scoring since December, and that was nineteen matches ago. The Citizens have won their last three Premier League matches and are just one point behind leaders Liverpool, who play at home against Watford on Wednesday evening. Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho picked up injuries during the League Cup final, so both might be unavailable for this match. Gabriel Jesus, Benjamin Mendy, Fabian Delph and John Stones are all injury doubts for the home side.
West Ham United have recorded decent results lately, culminating with last week's 3-1 victory over relegation candidates Fulham. That result followed two consecutive 1-1 draws, at Crystal Palace and at home against league leaders Liverpool. Those results pushed the hammers up to ninth place, four points behind seventh-placed Watford and eighth-placed Wolves. Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko are still out injured, but manager Manuel Pellegrini is happy to have Samir Nasri and Manuel Lanzini available for this match. Fabian Balbuena is also close to his return from injury but he might have to sit this one out.
Probable line-ups:
Man City: Ederson - Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko - De Bruyne, Danilo, D. Silva - Mahrez, Aguero, Sane
West Ham: Fabianski - Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell - Rice, Noble - Antonio, Snodgrass, Anderson - Arnautovic
My prediction: Manchester City to win 3-1, the Citizens should be able to win this match but I think the Hammers will score at the Etihad Stadium.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man City win - 1.16
Draw - 9.00
West Ham win - 19.00
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