West Ham vs Manchester City: Guardiola’s men look to retain top spot

Manchester City travel to London to face West Ham on Saturday afternoon, hoping to get another three points under their belt and retain their status at the top of the Premier League table.

On paper, that feat looks a likely one, with West Ham making a disappointing start to the campaign thus far. Having forked out this summer on quality recruits in a bid to make a claim on the top eight, the Hammers were expected to show far more attacking flair than they have done. However, a three match unbeaten run prior to the start of the international break will give Manuel Pellegrini optimism about the capabilities of his side as they look to do the impossible at the weekend.

West Ham have already taken points off Chelsea and Manchester United at the London stadium and will need to raise their performance levels once more if they’re to have any hope of preventing Manchester City for a routine three points. Key to that will be defensive improvements, with the side keeping just one clean sheet all season.

As for Manchester City, they head into the game on top form having registered a strong win against bitter rivals Manchester United last time out. A performance that was dominant from start to finish, including build up play of over 40 passes prior to Ilkay Gundogan’s goal in the second-half, Guardiola’s side look impossible to stop at the moment, winning 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions with a stunning 38 goals and nine clean sheets.

The absence of Kevin De Bruyne has failed to hinder their attacking prowess with Raheem Sterling and co. stepping up in his place. The Englishman will be a key figure on Saturday as he looks to improve upon his six goals and five assists from 10 league games.

In terms of the head to head record between the two sides, the statistics are very much in favour of Manchester City, with the Blues claiming 50 wins in 107 competitive meetings. West Ham will be hoping to make good on a dreadful record since 2009 that’s seen them suffer 14 defeats.

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West Ham will be boosted by the return of Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll after the duo came through training unscathed while Robert Snodgrass will miss out as he serves a suspension for five yellow cards. Meanwhile, Mark Noble is back having served his own three-match ban.

Bernardo Silva is a doubt for City after receiving a knock during international duty with Portugal while Oleksandr Zinchenko is set to come into the squad following the injury to Mendy. The left-back has undergone surgery on his knee and is now set for a sustained period on the sidelines that’ll likely see him the away trip to Stamford Bridge next month.