Manchester City vs West Ham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2025-01-03 15:00.
[p]Manchester City finally got back to winning ways last time out as they triumphed 2-0 against struggling Leicester City. Even despite grabbing the three points, Pep Guardiola’s side were still far from their best, but a return home to face West Ham, who they’ve won 14 of their last 15 Premier League home games against (L1), will likely lift confidence levels a little further.[/p]
[p]There’s also the added bonus for the home side that they’ve won 17 of their last 18 league games to open up a calendar year, securing victories in each of their last 12 such matches. That record could be placed in jeopardy this time around however, with City winning just one of their last five home competitive outings (D2, L2), whilst conceding an uncharacteristically high ten goals across those matches.[/p]
[p]That will give visiting West Ham a bit of a boost, something that is definitely needed as they were easily outclassed by Liverpool at the London Stadium in their last match, losing 5-0. Manager Julen Lopetegui remains under huge pressure, with the bookmakers making him the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job after that performance. [/p]
[p]Winless in 18 Premier League H2Hs since 2015, the Spanish boss likely won’t be looking forward to this fixture then, especially as that run is the Hammers’ joint-longest ever winless streak against an opponent in league history. It’s also clear that significant defensive improvements need to be made by West Ham in order to have a chance of gaining a positive result here, as they conceded more goals than any other Premier League side (79) in 2024. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Erling Haaland broke his three-game league scoring duck against Leicester last time out, whilst he’s netted seven goals across five Premier League H2Hs – only netting more against Wolves in the competition (eight). West Ham’s Tomáš SouÄŤek has struck four league goals from midfield this season, though he’s only ever faced Liverpool (11) more times than Manchester City (10) without scoring during his career. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: West Ham have failed to score in just one of their nine away Premier League games this season. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Nathan Evans[/i][/p]