West Ham vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City must put a heavy blow in the Champions League Round of 16 behind them as they face West Ham upon a return to Premier League action on Saturday night.

City faced Real Madrid on Wednesday night in what is becoming an all-too-familiar European encounter, marking the second time the sides have met already this season. A first-half hat-trick from Federico Valverde left the Blues facing a daunting task ahead of the second leg.

Pep Guardiola’s men started brightly, pressing high and pinning a relatively weakened Real Madrid side back for large spells of the opening half. However, the Spanish giants proved ruthless with the chances that came their way.

Just 20 minutes in, Valverde was sent through by a long ball from Thibaut Courtois that sailed over the City defence. The Uruguayan kept his composure, rounding an onrushing Gianluigi Donnarumma before slotting home to give Madrid an early lead.

Only seven minutes later, Valverde found space in behind once again, finishing clinically across Donnarumma to double the advantage. In the minutes approaching half-time, the third goal came from what can only be considered a moment of brilliance.

Former City man Brahim Diaz scooped his pass over the top of Ruben Dias, Valverde then took his touch over the head of Marc Guehi before volleying the ball into the bottom left corner of the net. City did have their opportunities, though.

Courtois was forced into an excellent save shortly after the break following Nico O’Reilly’s challenge in the box. Coupled with a missed chance from an open goal following a corner, there will be a feeling among players and supporters alike that the scoreline could have looked very different on another day.

There was also a moment of relief at the other end. Donnarumma produced an important save to deny Vinicius Jr. from the penalty spot, limiting the damage and keeping the deficit at three goals heading into the second leg.

The Blues must now turn attention back to Premier League action as they look to turn their fortunes back around after a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest last time out.

West Ham enter this having somewhat revived their season over recent fixtures, with just one defeat from their last five league games they now sit just one point from safety. They come into this off a penalty shootout win against Brentford in the FA Cup, with a 1-0 win against London rivals Fulham in their last league match.

With everything to play for at both ends of the table once again, here is everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City’s clash with West Ham United!

Match Details

West Ham vs Manchester City will take place at the London Stadium on Saturday 14 March, kick-off is scheduled for 20:00 (UK).

Match Officials

Michael Oliver will be the referee for this fixture, the last time he officiated a Manchester City match was the 1-1 draw against Chelsea back in January.

You can check out the full team of referees appointed to this week’s fixtures below!

Team News

For West Ham, Lukasz Fabianski is unavailable having missed the whole season so far with a back injury. Crysencio Summerville is ruled out with a calf injury.

Josko Gvardiol remains sidelined for Manchester City, with a return to action unlikely until the end of May. Mateo Kovacic is a doubt for this fixture but has returned to full team training after his extended absence from action, suggesting a return is likely soon.

Pep Guardiola’s yellow card against Newcastle in the FA Cup a few weeks ago means that he will have to watch over his team from the stands at the London Stadium.

Press Conference Quotes

Erling Haaland is fit and available for Manchester City against West Ham this weekend, says Pep Guardiola.

On whether Manchester City can come back against Real Madrid: “West Ham. Now it’s West Ham, and after we have time to think about it.”

On Antoine Semenyo being named Premier League Player of the Month for February: “I’m so happy for him, an incredible guy, he deserves it. I’m so happy for him!”

On West Ham being ‘desperate for points’ this weekend: “We are desperate, too.”

Head To Head

Since 1924, Manchester City have faced West Ham no less than 144 times across all competitions. Of those 144 matches, the Blues have won 67 with West Ham winning 38.

West Ham haven’t beaten Manchester City in a league game in the last 11 years, in that fixture they won 1-2 with Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho both scoring to cancel out Kevin De Bruyne’s very first goal in a City shirt.

Across the last five matches, Manchester City have beaten West Ham with an aggregate score of 16-3. The difference this time is that the London side are fighting desperately to keep their place in the league.

Last time out, an Erling Haaland brace along with a goal from Tijjani Reijnders was enough to claim all three points in a 3-0 win at home.

Statistics

West Ham United are winless in 20 Premier League matches against Manchester City (D3 L17), since a 2-1 win in September 2015. It’s their longest ever winless league run against an opponent.

Only against Fulham (a current run of 22) and Newcastle (22 between 2006 and 2018) have Manchester City had a longer unbeaten run in their league history.

Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in all 19 of his Premier League games against West Ham. Only Arsene Wenger has gone on a longer run, with 20 matches undefeated against Leicester City.

Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than any other opponent (11). He’s netted at least twice in his last three against the Hammers. He could become only the third player to net two or more goals in four consecutive matches against a single opponent in Premier League history.

City has scored 28 goals at the London Stadium since its opening in 2016, the highest number of goals scored by any visiting team at a single Premier League stadium in that timeframe.

How To Watch

Viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the match via Prime Video UK, TNT Sports 1, Discovery+ and the Discovery+ app. Radio coverage will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live

Viewers in the USA will be able to watch on NBC.

A full list of global TV listings can be found here! 

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!