Manchester City v West Ham United: betting preview, odds, stats and free tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v West Ham United in the Premier League.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Man City to win & both teams to score
1pt 7-5 Betway

Team news

Manchester City
Raheem Sterling is injured while Leroy Sane is training but won’t play. Oleksandr Zinchenko is banned.

West Ham
Felipe Anderson could return and Jarrod Bowen should make his debut. Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko are absent.

Match preview

There is a winter break for many in the Premier League and David Moyes must wish he was in Marrakech rather than Manchester as West Ham head to the Etihad expecting a backlash from the champions.

Struggling United have lost their last eight games against Manchester City, conceding 28 goals in the process, and they could be heading for another high-scoring loss.

City under Pep Guardiola are used to breaking records but there are a couple of unwanted firsts that the champions are hoping to avoid.

When City lost 2-0 at Tottenham last Sunday it was their sixth Premier League defeat of the season and their second game in a row in which they have failed to score.

Six is as many losses as City have ever suffered in a Guardiola campaign while they haven’t gone three games in succession without finding the net since Manuel Pellegrini was in charge almost four years ago.

A seventh record-breaking defeat will doubtless happen sometime between now and the end of term though surely this City team won’t complete a hat-trick of blanks with West Ham visiting.

Anyone who saw the 1-0 home loss to Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final second leg and the defeat at Tottenham will be scratching their heads at how they not only lost both games but failed to find the net.

Overconfidence, overcomplicating things, bad luck and of course a missed penalty were all factors that ensured a combined shot haul of 32 achieved with zero reward.

Presumably their fortunes will change and probably sooner rather than later, although with so many issues over City defensively at the moment it’s highly likely it will be with goals at both ends.

Former United boss Moyes returns to Manchester with his team in a sorry way.

Last week’s 3-3 draw at home to Brighton, a match they twice led by two goals, was a shocker and the atmosphere at the London Stadium is pretty poisonous.

The Hammers' travelling fans will doubtless be delighted to see new signing Jarrod Bowen in action alongside fellow newcomer Thomas Soucek with Moyes needing to freshen things up.

They are on a run of no wins in six and find themselves in the bottom three. They have won at Chelsea this season, one of three away successes, however their previous away day resulted in a 4-1 mauling at Leicester and they have shipped five against City already this season, back on the opening day.

They will take crumbs of comfort from the fact that City’s defence is committing errors and will be reshuffled once again today with Oleksandr Zinchenko suspended.