Two teams having very different seasons meet on Sunday afternoon at The Etihad Stadium as league leaders, Manchester City, take on West Ham United. Manchester City are unbeaten in all competitions this season and are on a run of 12 successive victories in the Premier League. West Ham United, on the other hand, have won just twice this season and find themselves buried in the relegation zone despite replacing Slaven Bilic with David Moyes.
English Premier League – Etihad Stadium – Sunday 3rd December 2017 – 16:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 12 at Unibet |
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Manchester City
WesthamManchester City
Manchester City were pushed all the way by Southampton in midweek before a last gasp goal from Raheem Sterling gifted them all three points in a 2-1 victory. Sterling has now scored the winning goal in each of City’s last three matches and Pep Guardiola will be delighted with the recent form shown by the England winger. John Stones and Benjamin Mendy remain side-lined for City, but Guardiola has no fresh injury concerns heading into the game. Sergio Aguero is likely to start up front on Sunday and the striker has already scored six goals in his career against West Ham United.
West Ham United
West Ham United were terrible against Everton in the week, going down 4-0, with former England captain, Wayne Rooney, scoring a hat trick. David Moyes has failed to inspire a turnaround since joining the club and West Ham United have now gone five games without a win in the Premier League. Javier Hernandez is expected to miss out again for The Hammers, and Moyes will be desperate to get his goals back in the team.
Talking Points
1. Manchester City have won 12 games in a row in the Premier League and are unbeaten in all competitions this season.
2. The omens don’t look great for West Ham United coming into this game and although they have a new manager – they have failed to win any of their last eight away PL games, whilst Man City have kept a clean sheet against them in their last three meetings.
3. This game represents the highest scoring side in the league facing the worst defence in the league (44 goals scored, vs 30 conceded).
Prediction
Manchester City should win this game comfortably; on paper and on the field they are the best team in the league and on Sunday they are coming up against one of the worst teams in the division. I can see Manchester City winning this game by a few clear goals and despite struggling a little in the last few weeks, City have still been getting the job done.
Betting Tips
Manchester City start this game as huge 1/9 favourites, whilst an away win for West Ham United is priced up at 35/1, with the draw available at 12/1. Those odds on Manchester City are not worth getting involved with, so we must look elsewhere; Manchester City (-2) is available at 4/6 and that looks very tempting considering that City have the best attack in the league, whilst West Ham United have the worst defence. Sergio Aguero is available at 5/2 to open the scoring and that also looks a solid bet considering his recent form against The Hammers.
Manchester City (-2) – 4/6 (Ladbrokes)