West Ham vs Manchester City preview

By Ric Turner, Fri 22 January 2016 16:23


West Ham vs Manchester City previewKolarov ruled out with calf injury but Fernandinho returns to squad

West Ham United vs Manchester City

Competition: F.A. Premier League

Date: 5.30pm, Saturday 23rd January 2016

Venue: Boleyn Ground, East London

Referee: Craig Pawson Assistants: S Child, D Bryan Fourth Official: J Moss

Odds: West Ham 4/1, Draw 3/1, City 8/11

Tickets: Sold out

TV: Sky Sports

West Ham

Manager: Slaven Bilic

Squad (from): Adrian, Randolph, Spiegel, Collins, Cresswell, Byram, Demel, Henry, Jenkinson, O'Brien, Ogbonna, Oxford, Reid, Tomkins, Antonio, Cullen, Kouyate, Moses, Noble, Obiang, Payet, Song, Jelavic, Valencia, Zarate.

Injured: Sakho, Carroll, Lanzini

Doubtful: Tomkins

Suspended: None

Form guide: LWWWDD

Manchester City

Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Clichy, Demichelis, Humphreys, Otamendi, Sagna, Zabaleta, De Bruyne, Delph, Fernando, Navas, Silva, Sterling, Toure, Aguero, Iheanacho

Injured: Nasri, Kompany, Bony, Mangala, Kolarov

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Form guide: WDWDWL

Aleksandar Kolarov is ruled out with a calf injury sustsained against Crystal Palace, but Fernandinho is available once again. Samir Nasri, Vincent Kompany, Wilfried Bony and Eliaquim Mangala remain on the sidelines.

West Ham won the return fixture at The Etihad in September, and Manuel Pellegrini has warned his players that they face another tough challenge.

“We have a difficult game against a very good team,” Pellegrini warned.

“They beat us here at home earlier this season in a match I think we had 20 chances to score but we didn’t do it.

“I hope we will go for the three points and that we will demonstrate why we’re involved in the title.

“I think that our mentality is to be an attacking team – maybe a lot of times you cannot score but we always create chances. If you create chances and score four goals as we did last time, I’m always happy.

“It’s the best way to win titles for me.

“In some games, especially away, we couldn’t score so I hope tomorrow we will return, as we did against Watford, to score goals and win.”

City's last away game at Upton Park ended in a 2-1 defeat, with Yaya Toure getting City's consolation. Overall City have won 48 of the 101 games played against West Ham, with 16 draws and 37 defeats.

Prediction: West Ham 2 City 2