Injuries and African Cup of Nations leave Guardiola with limited options
Manchester City vs West Ham United
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 3.00pm, Saturday 20th December 2025
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Paul Tierney Assistants: R West, M Perry Fourth Official: L Smith VAR: A Chilowicz
Odds: City 2/9, Draw 6/1, West Ham 10/1
Tickets: Available via tickets.mancity.com
TV: Match of the Day
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Donnarumma, Trafford, Bettinelli, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Lewis, Mfuni, Braithwaite, Reijnders, Cherki, Gonzalez, Silva, Nunes, O'Reilly, Foden, Gray, Mukasa, Haaland, Savinho, McAidoo
Injured: Kovacic, Rodri, Stones, Doku, Bobb
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Ait-Nouri, Marmoush (both ACON)
Form guide: WWWWW
West Ham
Manager: Nuno Espírito Santo
Squad (from): Hermansen, Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Julio, Mavropanos, Todibo, Scarles, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Fernandes, Rodriguez, Magassa, Soucek, Potts, Irving, Earthy, Summerville, Wilson, Fullkrug, Guilherme, Bowen, Marshall
Injured: Fabianksi
Doubtful: Fullkrug
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Diouf, Wan-Bissaka (both ACON)
Form guide: LDDLD
City are missing seven senior players as West Ham visit The Etihad on Saturday afternoon.
Rodri and Mateo Kovacic are joined on the sidelines by John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush have joined up with their respective national teams ahaead of the African Cup of Nations.
West Ham have struggled so far this season, and are currently in the relegation places, but manager Pep Guardiola is mindful of the threat posed by the Hammers.
“We are prepared. They didn’t get enough [good] results, but they have drawn lately at Old Trafford and Brighton, and we know how difficult they are.” he said at Friday's press conference.
“They only lost at the end against Aston Villa [last weekend], who look almost unstoppable right now.
“Always they have top class players. So huge respect [for West Ham], but at the same time we’re ready.
“I said before one month ago, even when the results were not good, [that the vibes were really good],
“Many things are positive, the way we play we are not at the level required to win title [right now] but the margin is there to improve and that is nice.
“We can do better. I think we got results but there are a lot of things we need to do better.”
City won their last home game against West Ham 4-1, with goals from Erling Haaland (2), Phil Foden and an own goal. Overall City have won 65 of the 122 games played against the Hammers, with 19 draws and 38 defeats.
Predicted line-up: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Gonzalez, Silva, Foden, Cherki, Savinho, Haaland
Score prediction: City 3 West Ham 1