Prediction: West Ham vs Manchester City

Verdict: West Ham not to lose

Best Odds: 5/4

Bookmaker: bet365

Both sides have been punching below their weight in the current Premier League campaign and a win in Friday’s FA Cup clash would definitely provide a much needed lift. While West Ham hope to make amends for back to back league defeats, Man City desperately need to show improvement after yet another disappointing performance.

West Ham

After what was one of their most successful campaigns in recent years, West Ham United unexpectedly experienced plenty of problems this season, although at least they managed to escape from the Premier League danger zone. The Hammers needed quite a while to hit the ground running, but their persistence paid off midway through December as they embarked on a three-match winning run to move away from the bottom three. The narrow defeat to Leicester City that ensued didn’t seem to have such a negative effect on the squad as West Ham looked promising in the opening minutes of the Manchester United clash, but Mike Dean completely changed the course of the match as he wrongfully sent off Sofiane Feghouli with just 15 minutes on the clock. And even though the Hammers fought bravely, they couldn’t avoid defeat in their first game of 2017, although they can definitely take some positives from that performance. While lengthy injury list has also created problems for manager Slaven Bilic it is team’s attacking woes that have been in the focus. With summer recruits Simone Zaza and Jonthan Calleri failing to impress, the Croatian boss is desperate to sign a proven goalscorer and he is reportedly keen on bringing Jermain Defoe back to the club.

Team News

Sofiane Feghouli is available for selection as his red card was rescinded, while Adrian Martinez and Andre Ayew are expected to start.

Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave one of the strangest post-match interviews after his side toiled away to record a narrow win over Burnley, and his frustration at not being able to turn the Citizens into genuine title contenders has been evident from the start of the season. The Etihad Stadium outfit did win four of their last five Premier League matches, but their performances leave a lot to be desired and that is the main problem at the moment. It appears that the Catalan coach wanted to change too much too quickly, leaving his players confused at times and not really sure what their job is on the pitch. It is perfectly clear that Guardiola needs more time if he is to make this team his own, but with Chelsea quickly getting away, that has to happen sooner rather than later. It remains to be seen whether the boss will make changes for the FA Cup clash against West Ham, but with nine days until their next Premier League fixture, he might just stick to his strongest side and attempt to record a morale-boosting win that is very much needed at the moment. Having conceded in 13 of last 15 away games, Manchester City will probably have to score a couple of goals at least if they want to progress to the next stage.

Team News

Fernandinho starts a new four-match ban, while Ilkay Gundogan, Vincent Kompany and Fabian Delph are out injured.

Key Factors to Consider

• Both teams scored in their last three meetings
• Man City won 9 of last 13 meetings with West Ham (D2 L2)
• Six West Ham forwards scored 4 goals between them
• Man City scored nine goals in last four away games vs Hammers
• The Citizens won four of last five matches

Conclusion

West Ham have shown a great deal of improvement of late in spite of all their problems and we are backing them to produce another promising performance against Man City. The Citizens seem to be completely out of confidence and quite confused at the moment, so we don’t think they will emerge victorious at the London Stadium.

Verdict: West Ham not to lose

Best Odds: 5/4

Bookmaker: bet365