STAR PREVIEW: Man City v West Ham

Football fans have been well catered for this summer, but the Premier League Asia Trophy signifies one thing; that the Premier League season is nearing. We are less than a month away from the first games of the new season, and today we have a chance to see Manchester City facing off against West Ham.

City haven’t had an ideal preparation for this match – they were grounded for two days as they attempted to fly to China, and indeed the game was in doubt at one stage – but they will now tackle the Hammers before taking on either Newcastle or Wolves in the third-placed playoff.

It’s a lot to cope with for any side but few managers have the talent that Guardiola does at his disposal and City should still be able to put a strong side out. There could be a first start for new arrival Rodri, and the rest of the side should be pretty familiar to start with. In this competition teams can make ten changes, so we can expect to see plenty of City youngsters such as Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle, Iker Pozo, and Lucas Nmecha, but Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Sterling, and Sane should all be on the pitch at some point.

Man City v West Ham
Premier League Asia Trophy, Kick Off: 13:30
Sky Sports Premier League HD / Sky Sports Main Event HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches*)
FEB 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 1-0 West Ham
NOV 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham 0-4 Manchester City
APR 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham 1-4 Manchester City
DEC 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-1 West Ham
FEB 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham 0-4 Manchester City
JAN 2017 FA CUP West Ham 0-5 Manchester City
AUG 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 3-1 West Ham
JAN 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham 2-2 Manchester City
SEP 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 1-2 West Ham
APR 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 2-0 West Ham

West Ham have had an easier preparation – they’ve been in China since Sunday – and they also have some game time under their belts thanks to a 3-2 win over Rheindorf Altach last week in Switzerland. They also bring a decent squad with them, including new signings Roberto and David Martin, whilst Declan Rice and Mark Noble are also available. Jack Wilshere, Felipe Anderson and Michail Antonio can all be expected to start whilst Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping to get minutes into Winston Reid and Andriy Yarmolenko.

Evaluating these two teams at this stage of the season is difficult – especially when both will make a lot of changes. West Ham have had the better preparation, and that might count for more in pre-season, although at some point logic suggests that Manchester City will pull clear. This could be a game where sides struggle to settle properly and it’s interesting to note that six of West Ham’s eight pre-season friendlies saw both teams on the scoresheet, and when City played in last year’s International Champions Cup, two of three games saw both teams score. That could be the best way to find value here.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Both Teams To Score 5 pts at 4/6 with starsports.bet
BACK Manchester City 2-1 1 pt at 7/1 with starsports.bet

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