Defending Premier League champions Manchester City kick off their campaign with a tricky away match, they visit West Ham United at the Olympic Stadium in London on Saturday. Last season Manchester City defeated West Ham 4-0 in London before securing a narrow 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium. The two sides have also met in a friendly match this summer, which Man City won 4-1. Manchester City have won the last nine matches against the Hammers in all competition, West Ham have not collected a win against the Citizens since 2014.
West Ham United have overhauled their squad this summer, they have released Adrian, Andy Carroll and Samir Nasri on free transfers and allowed Marko Arnautovic and Pedro Obiang to leave, but they have added exciting new players like Sebastien Haller and Pablo Fornals. This squad should be closer to what manager Manuel Pellegrini wants, so the club are expecting a lot more from the boss and from his players this season. Mark Noble is the only injury concern for the home side.
Manchester City have not made major changes to their squad this summer, manager Pep Guardiola was very satisfied with most of his players last season and chose stability this summer. The only new arrivals that should slot into the first team are central midfielder Rodri and right-back Joao Cancelo, while the departures of Fabian Delph and Danilo are not essential for the overall quality of the squad. Benjamin Mendy and Leroy Sane are out injured, while Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte are doubts.
Probable line-ups:
West Ham: Fabianski - Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell - Lanzini, Rice, Fornals - Antonio, Haller, Anderson
Man City: Ederson - Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko - De Bruyne, Rodri, D. Silva - B. Silva, Aguero, Sterling
My prediction:
West Ham United will be hard to beat this season, but Manchester City should have enough strength to pull off a 3-1 victory.
Here are the odds for this match at NetBet:
West Ham win - 11.00
Draw - 6.20
Man City win - 1.26
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