Premier League 2022-23: Manchester City vs West Ham: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

The Premier League leaders host the Hammers in the midweek Premier League tie and will look to stretch their lead to four points at the top.

Manchester City are​​ facing off against a West Ham side still looking over their shoulders to avoid relegation to 15th in the league standings. City won a closely contested match(1-2) against Fulham away, with Haaland and Alvarez on the scoresheet. Despite the injury to De Bruyne, who was completely absent from the squad, the Citizens managed to get a victory in the first of their games in hand. The match on Wednesday evening presents the perfect opportunity to put a bit of a clear gap between them and now second-placed Arsenal, to four points.

West Ham is coming off back-to-back defeats in the past week, losing 2-1 at home to West Ham on Thursday, and a high scoring 4-3 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Manager David Moyes was understandably concerned despite having a six-point cushion from relegation spots. A visit to the Etihad Stadium represents another difficult task against the top side and any result will have to come through their best performance in recent weeks.

Kick-Off:

Wednesday, 03-05-2023, 07:00 PM (GMT)

Thursday, 04-05-2023, 12:30 AM (IST)

Manchester City Form (All Competitions): W-W-W-W-D

Arsenal Form (All Competitions): L-L-W-W-D

Player to Watch Out

Manchester City: Erling Haaland

The Norwegian superstar has set the Premier League alight this season with his outrageous athleticism, physicality and most importantly, goal-scoring form. Haaland is having an unbelievable debut season in the Premier League, having already broken Mohamad Salah's all-time Premier League goal scoring record last week against Arsenal, with his 33rd Premier League goal. He already has 50 goals in all competitions, and being the top scorer of two of the most demanding competitions(Premier League & Champions League), puts him on a pedestal for the 2023 Ballon d'Or award. He'll be the clear standout against the Hammers, against who he scored a brace in the return fixture, back in early August last year.

West Ham: Lucas Paqueta

The Brazilian playmaker is finally looking like the player David Moyes played a club-record amount to be the difference maker for the Hammers. He was on a three-game scoring streak which was broken at the weekend's loss to Palace. However, his three goals and two assists in the last four outings in all competitions have been crucial in both the league's survival as well as staying alive in the Conference League. He'll have to stand out if they're to get anything against City.

Match Facts

In the Premier League, Manchester City have 7 successive home wins.

Manchester City have not lost to West Ham United in their last 6 encounters.

West Ham United's last away win against Manchester City was in 2015.

Team & Injury News

Manchester City have injury concerns for defender Ake(hamstring), who'll definitely miss this tie. Also a doubt would be playmaker De Bruyne, who missed out against Fulham in the weekend.

For West Ham, the major injury doubt is for forward Scamacca(knee) who's out with a long term injury.

Head-to-head Stats

Matches – 52

Manchester City - 32

West Ham – 10

Draws – 10

Predicted Lineup

Manchester City Predicted lineup (3-2-4-1): 

Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Laporte, Stones: Rodri, Gundogan; Bernardo, Alvarez, Grealish; Haaland

West Ham Predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): 

Fabianski; Kehrer, Aguerd, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Paqueta, Fornals; Antonio

Prediction for Manchester City vs West Ham

Manchester City are playing their best football, especially now when the crucial matches come in thick and fast, Their superlative performance against Arsenal(4-1 win last Thursday) put them firmly back in the driving seat in the Premier League title race. The extra game in hand will be valuable in these times when they'd want to stretch their lead to four and establish some breathing room with six games left.

They'll be facing a side who have nothing much to lose and the pressure will be on the home side to deliver t goods, yet again, when it counts. The form of Erling Haaland and their strong home record should do the trick against their London based opponents on the night.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 West Ham

Telecast

India – Star Sports Select, Disney+ Hotstar.

UK – BT Sport, BT Sports App

US – NBC, USA Network.

Nigeria – SportLemon.tv.