Will the Skyblues leave nothing to chance?
A must-win game for the Citizens before Christmas! With the Hammers having been disappointing so far this season, a supposedly easy opponent is coming to the Etihad Stadium this Saturday. Accordingly, the odds for a Manchester City vs. West Ham tip on the three-way market are clear.
As expected, the Skyblues are clear favorites against an opponent that Pep Guardiola’s team has had little trouble with at home at the Etihad Stadium in recent encounters. The current form also favors the hosts. In this respect, we find little reason to disagree with the Manchester City vs. West Ham prediction of the betting providers.
Pep Guardiola’s team’s offense, led by “goal machine” Erling Haaland, who has scored nine times in ten matches against their upcoming opponent, is currently steamrolling their opponents in the English Premier League.
Manchester City – West Ham Head-to-head record / H2H record
Exactly 111 matches between the two teams are recorded in the annals of English soccer. With 59 wins, the Citizens have won more than half of all matches. West Ham has won 34 times, and only 18 times has there been no winner in this encounter. In addition, Pep Guardiola’s team has won each of the last six matches against the Londoners.
The Hammers last earned a point against the Skyblues in 2022. It’s clear that the Manchester City vs. West Ham betting odds for the upcoming match are once again heavily in favor of the home team.
Manchester City – West Ham Tip
Things are currently going well for Pep Guardiola’s team in the English Premier League. The Citizens have taken maximum points from their last four games, although they have not faced any real top-class opponents in the English top flight during this period. Nevertheless, Manchester City urgently needs these mandatory wins at the moment in order not to lose touch with league leaders Arsenal London.
The Gunners are currently dropping very few points in the Premier League. It is therefore likely that Pep Guardiola will field his best eleven after the League Cup clash with Brentford in midweek and will not resort to his famous but often unsuccessful rotation policy.
The third-placed team from last season will once again be relying on Erling Haaland, who is currently in top form and also scored in last weekend’s victory against Oliver Glasner’s Eagles. In fact, the Citizens’ offense is currently firing on all cylinders, which is why we expect Guardiola’s star-studded attack to score several goals again this Saturday.
Defensively, Manchester City have often looked a little shaky this season. However, the Skyblues celebrated their last two league wins with a clean sheet. Will they manage to do the same this Saturday? We could well imagine the visitors scoring at the Etihad Stadium, as they have shown an improvement in form, at least offensively, even if it is unlikely to be enough to earn the Londoners any points.
Just a few years ago, they were Europa League winners, but this season the Hammers are in danger of being relegated to the English second division. Last weekend, West Ham United lost to Aston Villa at home despite a promising performance. After another defeat against the team of the moment in the English Premier League on the last matchday, the nightmare scenario of relegation is more realistic than ever for the fans of the London club.
And in their upcoming away game, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team will not be facing an opponent against whom they are sure to pick up points. After the former Nottingham Forest coach took over the team from Graham Potter at the end of September, things have only improved to a limited extent. At least there have only been two defeats (2-3-2) in the last seven league games.
Only once in these seven games did they fail to score, in the match against champions Liverpool. The team of former Bremen striker Niclas Füllkrug still has quality in its squad, and the Hammers are certainly better than their current position in the table suggests.
The fact is that Santo’s team has only won one away game in the English Premier League (1-4-3) this season. That’s why we see little chance of the London team taking anything away from Saturday’s game against the dazzling Citizens.
