David Moyes would be pitting his unbeaten start to the season against Manchester City’s as they return from the international break looking to keep their momentum. 

West Ham United have started the season in flying colours as the Europa Conference League winners won three and drew the other of their four Premier League games so far. They occupy a top-four place and will be facing the back-to-back-to-back league champions full of confidence.

After falling to a late equalizer at Bournemouth on opening day, West Ham got their campaign up and running at home with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Chelsea. That morale-boosting victory with a man down spurred them on to another stunning performance against high-flying Brighton who went down 3-1 before they paused for the international break with a 2-1 win at Luton Town. 

David Moyes deserves huge credit for the way his team has improved this season and their continuity is working wonders alongside the confidence gained from wins. The aim is to kick on and establish themselves within the Premier League’s top eight clubs this term and they already look the part.

For Manchester City, they will have little problem dispatching off the Hammers who barely laid a glove on them last season as they lost both league games by an aggregate scoreline of 5-0.

The first proved a glorious introduction to Premier League football for Erling Haaland as he hit a brace on the opening day of the 2022/23 campaign while another goal in the reverse fixture in May took him past Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record for most goals (34) in a Premier League season.

The Irons are yet to keep a clean sheet in their last seven league games and the best result they can hope for is a draw given the attacking might of City. Indeed, a home point against the treble winners will be seen as a positive result in their ongoing season. 

Par for the course, the champions haven’t lost to West Ham since a 2-1 defeat in September 2015, a run stretching across their last 15 league meetings.

There is little to suggest City will take their foot off the pedal as they still look unbeatable having kicked off their title defence with a 3-0 thrashing of Vincent Kompany’s Burnley before a 1-0 win against Newcastle and another narrow 2-1 defeat of Sheffield United via a late winner from Rodri.

West Ham won’t be particularly adventurous and the Citizens can expect to deliver the decisive margin for victory as they have got the better of West Ham 33 times from their total of 52 previous meetings. 

Match tickets

The match kicks off at 3 pm UK time on Saturday, 16 September 2023 and West Ham have confirmed that tickets can be purchased in person at the London Stadium Ticket Office while away fans can get theirs on the Man City website.

There will certainly be no empty seats in East London when the treble winners come to town and Hammers fans will be making it a typically hostile welcome for the visitors. West Ham are in form at the moment and their supporters will be desperate to play their part in what they hope could be a positive result.  

This promises to be a dramatic game but West Ham vs Man City tickets will be difficult to find so fans may have to get a copy on a ticket reselling site.

Team news

After losing influential captain Declan Rice in a big-money move to Arsenal, West Ham were very measured in their dealings and brought in Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Andy Irving all for sensible fees.

Barring any potential niggles during the international break, Moyes’ men have a clean bill of health for the City game, save for new signing Mavropanos who is nursing an adductor injury. 

Pep Guardiola has incisively refreshed his squad with the ball-carrying and ball-retention qualities of Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes as well as the aggressive one-on-one defending of Josko Gvardiol. This points to a side that is better equipped to constrict opponents who sit deep against the treble winners. 

For the West Ham match, Zack Steffen and Kevin De Bruyne are ruled out as long-term absentees with knee and hamstring injuries respectively. The Man City manager is also set for a return to the dugout after recovering from an emergency back surgery that ruled the 52-year-old out of the last two Premier League games against Sheffield United and Fulham.

Line-ups

James Ward-Prowse has seamlessly slotted into the West Ham midfield by delivering three goals and an assist in his first three games. The hosts would field more or less an attacking lineup given the firepower they possess in the in-form Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio. Meanwhile, Lucas Paqueta faces up the side he was really close to signing for a couple of weeks ago until a late change of heart.

Edson Alvarez is also hoping to take Tomas Soucek’s spot in the midfield pivot after starting the last two games and he will have his work cut out trying to protect the shaky defence from City’s onslaught.  

West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Bowen, Paqueta, Benrahma; Antonio

Given that Guardiola has made only six substitutions in the first three Premier League games, starting players know they will most likely get the full runout so earning the manager’s trust is vital. The tactician has also not made many changes to his lineups so far so we can expect to see his preferred players again.

Hence, Phil Foden will look to keep one of the attacking midfield spots behind Haaland as his creativity is needed in the absence of De Bruyne.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Grealish; Haaland

Prediction

West Ham do not have history on their side when they face Man City but this season’s performances mean they can realistically look to get something out of the next game. Although they give opponents too many chances to score, they carry a lethal threat when breaking forward at pace as well as at set-pieces.

Nevertheless, few will expect anything other than City adding another to the win column given the level they are currently operating at. 

West Ham 0-1 Man City

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