Manchester City host West Ham tonight, their first match since UEFA hammered them with a two-year Champions League ban. Pep Guardiola’s side are second in the table, 25 points behind leaders, Liverpool. The Hammers are 18th in the table with three losses in their last five games. Here’s the Big Game Focus. Bet on the game here.
Manchester City have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons this week. UEFA announced that they had banned them from the Champions League for the next two seasons for breaching of UEFA’s financial fair play regulations. They must now dust themselves off and prepare to play David Moyes’ side tonight. City suffered a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last time out and are hoping for a positive outcome tonight.
West Ham were hammered 5-0 by Manchester City on the opening day of the season. Although they recovered from that heavy defeat, they endured a massive collapse and find themselves in the relegation zone. Moyes’ tenure started with a bang but are yet to win since then. Can they get a result at the Etihad?
Betting preview
The hosts have won the first half in three of the last five Premier League games against West Ham. The Hammers lost the first half in their last away game which was at Leicester City. You can back Manchester City to Win the First Half at odds of 1.45.
Manchester City have scored three or fewer goals in nine of their last ten Premier League matches. Therefore, you can back Under 3.5 Goals at odds of 1.60.
Sergio Aguero has scored 16 Premier League goals this term. He has also netted ten goals in 16 appearances against West Ham. You can back Sergio Aguero as Anytime Goalscorer at odds of 1.30.
Team news
For Manchester City, Benjamin Mendy should replace Oleksandr Zinchenko, who saw red last time out.
The Hammers will be able to call upon new signing Jarrod Bowen for the first time tonight. Felipe Anderson will also be pushing for inclusion after returning to training recently following a back problem. Andriy Yarmolenko is unavailable due to injury.
Possible line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Fernandinho, Laporte, Mendy, De Bruyne, Rodri, Foden, Bernardo, Aguero, Mahrez
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Balbuena, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Noble, Snodgrass, Antonio, Haller