One of the better English Premier League matchups takes place this Sunday, August 28th when Manchester City hosts West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium. City will be gunning for their third straight league win while West Ham will be hoping to improve to 2-1. City is coming off of a 1-0 win in the second leg of their Champions League qualifying campaign against Steaua Bucuresti at home on Wednesday. City won the series on aggregate 6-0 after a 5-0 away win in the first leg. West Ham played the second leg of their Europa League qualifier on Thursday and lost 1-0 at home to Astra Giurgiu and was ousted from the tournament 2-1 on aggregate.
Manchester City vs West Ham United – bet365 Soccer Betting Line:
- bet365 currently lists Man City as favorites to win the game at 1/3 with West Ham 8/1 and a draw at 5/1
Manchester City vs West Ham United – Head to Head:
The clubs met twice in the league last season with West Ham winning 2-1 away and drawing 2-2 at home. They’ve met 102 times in the past with City winning 48, losing 37 and drawing 17. West Ham has won just two of the last 14 and three of the last 22 meetings.
Manchester City – A Closer Look:
Man City shares top spot on the table with six points after their 4-1 away win at Stoke City last weekend. Sergio Aguero scored penalties in the 27th and 36th minutes while Nolito added a pair of goals in the 86th minute and the fifth minute of injury time. Aguero now has three league goals on the season to co-lead the Golden Boot race with Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Man United. City won their season opener 2-1 at home over Sunderland a week earlier. The club has a new manager this season in Pep Guardiola of Spain. Guardiola spent the past three years with Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga crown in each of his three seasons in Germany after making a name for himself and winning numerous trophies with Barcelona. Guardiola acquired German international midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, Spanish international midfielder Nolito and English international defender John Stones during the offseason.
The team also signed Oleksandr Zinchenko, Aaron Mooy, Leroy Sane, Marlos Moreno and Gabriel Jesus, with the latter joining the squad next January. Players leaving in the summer included Martin Demichelis, Seko Fofana while and newcomers Mooy and Moreno who were sent out on loan. It looks like England international goalie Joe Hart may be the next to leave as City is hot on the heels of Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo to replace him. City finished fourth in the Premier League last season with 66 points from 19 victories, nine draws and 10 defeats. They had the same record as Man United, but had a better goal differential by scoring 71 times and allowing 41 against. Injury-wise, Defender and captain Vincent Kompany is out with a groin problem and is expected back in September. They beat Steaua on Wednesday on a Fabian Delph goal in the 56th minute in what may have been goaltender Joe Hart’s final game with the club.
West Ham United – A Closer Look:
The Hammers enter the weekend in 10th place with three points following their 1-0 win over Bournemouth at home last Sunday in the first-ever Premier League match at the London Olympic Stadium. Michail Antonio scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute after Bournemouth’s Harry Arter was ejected 12 minutes earlier with his second yellow card. West Ham kicked off their league schedule with a late away 2-1 loss at Chelsea. Hammers’ defender James Collins tied the game in the 77th minute, but Chelsea won it in the 89th minute. West Ham had a good 2015/16 season under manager Slava Bilic and finished the campaign in seventh place, which allowed them to enter the Europa League qualifying playoffs. They finished the season with 62 points from 16 wins, 14 draws and just eight losses with 65 goals scored and 51 conceded.
Bilic made several moves during the summer transfer window by acquiring Toni Martinez from Valencia, Havard Nordtveit from Borussia Moenchengladbach, Sofiane Feghouli from Valencia, Gokhan Tore from Besiktas, Ashley Fletcher from Manchester United, Arthur Masuaku from Olympiakos, Andre Ayew from Swansea City and Jonathan Calleri on loan from Deportivo Maldonado. Players that left the club during the offseason were Joey O’Brien, Elliot Lee and James Tomkins. West Ham has some injury problems to deal with as forwards Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew are out long-term while midfielder Sofiane Feghouli is expected back in early September. Forward Diafra Sakho is out indefinitely, but forward Dimitri Payet and midfielder Manuel Lanzini could be back this weekend. Defender Aaron Cresswell is out until November.
Manchester City vs West Ham United – Takeaway:
Man City looks to be a legitimate title contender this season while West Ham’s injury problems may keep them from challenging for a top-four spot.
Click here to read our review of the bet365 online sportsbook.
by Ian S. Palmer