Manchester City's pursuit of a record fifth consecutive Premier League title continues as they visit West Ham. Julen Lopetegui's tenure as West Ham manager began with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
However, the Hammers bounced back with a 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. Despite the improvement, they face a daunting challenge heading to this match, having failed to beat Man City in their last 20 encounters.
Conversely, Man City kicked off their title defense with a 2-0 win over Chelsea. That victory was followed by a dominant 4-1 victory against newly promoted Ipswich. Erling Haaland was instrumental, netting his 23rd career hat-trick as City came from behind to secure the win.
This victory marked City's historic achievement of becoming the first team in Premier League history to win 11 consecutive games by two or more goals. This includes their final nine victories from last season.
Haaland, the Premier League Golden Boot winner for the past two seasons, is off to a flying start, scoring four goals in the opening two fixtures. The Norwegian striker will be eager to continue his impressive form.
City will head to the London Stadium, aiming to extend their excellent start to the season. Their final game last season was against West Ham. On the final matchday last season, they defeated the Hammers to clinch their historic fourth consecutive title.
Given City's impressive record against West Ham, we expect another victory for the Cityzens in this encounter. We are making this prediction due to the following factors:
Megapari has competitive odds of 1.43 for Man City to win this match. These match odds clearly indicate that the bookie considers City as the likely match winner.
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For our second West Ham vs Man City prediction, we expect Man City to score over 2.5 team goals. We have selected this option due to the fact that Manchester City has set a new Premier League record by winning 11 consecutive matches by a margin of two or more goals.
Also, Pep's team has scored two or more goals in their previous six consecutive matches against the Hammers.
In addition, West Ham has defensive woes, conceding ten goals in their last five EPL matches.
1xbet offers competitive betting odds of 2.22 for this prediction. Based on those odds, we expect City to score over 2.5 goals in this game.
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West Ham was unlucky in their opening-day loss to Aston Villa. However, the Hammers have found their groove, securing a crucial win at Selhurst Park.
Second-half goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen secured a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace. That victory marked West Ham's first Premier League win under new manager Julen Lopetegui.
This win was their first triumph over Palace since January 2022 and ended a 20-match run without a clean sheet in the top flight. Their last clean sheet was a goalless draw against Brighton in January.
Edson Alvarez still has a hamstring injury sustained during the Copa America. He will be assessed ahead of kickoff. After a stellar performance last week, Aaron Wan-Bissaka could start at right-back.
Mavropanos is expected to partner with Kilman in the heart of defence. Fullkrug may replace Michail Antonio up front. Summerville will likely remain on the bench as Lopetegui sticks with Bowen and Kudus on the flanks.
Lopetegui will have a strong team to choose from, with Kurt Zouma being the only West Ham absentee.
Predicted Lineup: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Soucek, Rodriguez, Paqueta; Bowen, Kudus, Antonio.
Manchester City will travel to the capital once again to face West Ham. City's record against West Ham is exceptional; they have never lost a Premier League match to them under Pep Guardiola.
Furthermore, City remains undefeated in the Premier League throughout 2024, with their last loss dating back to December 2023 against Aston Villa.
The team might be without key midfielder Rodri, who missed the opening two fixtures. Additionally, Oscar Bobb is sidelined for several months after leg surgery following an injury during the first week of the season.
However, Savinho has returned to the starting lineup after recovering from an injury sustained against Chelsea. City also welcomed back Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona, who made a substitute appearance last weekend.
Kyle Walker, John Stones, and PFA Player of the Year Phil Foden are back in training and could feature in this match.
Predicted Lineup: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Savinho, Doku, Haaland.
City are heading to this tie on the back of their dominant display against Ipswich town which saw Haaland bag his 23rd hatrick in the Premier League. They will be buzzing with so much confidence here and we expect them to pick all 3 points.