English Premier
2019-02-27 - Manchester City vs West Ham United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 27th February 2019 - Kick Off 8pm
Manchester City
The first of four trophies has been tucked away by Manchester City as they managed to hold themselves together and beat Chelsea on a penalty shoot out in the League Cup Final on Sunday afternoon. Now the focus turns to the Premier League as their next three fixtures are in this competition through to the middle of March, but injuries are beginning to just stretch a squad trying to cope with playing two games per week over a long period of time.
That has been the main reason for the injuries according to manager Pep Guardiola, but no one will be feeling sorry for Manchester City and the unlimited funds backing the club. Even Guardiola will know that and instead will focus his players to at least stay a point behind Liverpool through this round of fixtures where they currently stand in the Premier League table. The Citizens have a 13-0-1 record at the Etihad Stadium where they have scored 49 goals and conceded 11 this season.
Manchester City have lost 1 of their last 15 games in all competitions, but their run of 4 wins in a row came to an end in normal time in the League Cup Final on Sunday. They now return home for the first time since the 6-0 win over Chelsea in the Premier League and Manchester City have won 7 in a row at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions.
Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho both suffered injuries in the win on Sunday and their recovery period will be expanded on by Pep Guardiola in his presser ahead of this fixture. Both are expected to miss out, while John Stones, Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus are doubts.
West Ham United
Manuel Pellegrini has made it quite clear how much he still cares about Manchester City, but he has to push those feelings aside and make sure his West Ham United team are as prepared as they can be for this one. In recent games The Hammers have looked like a team that can push for a top seven finish in the remaining 11 League games, but they are never too far away from a really poor effort.
Pellegrini will be reminding his players how much fresher they should be compared with Manchester City, but West Ham United are 9th in the Premier League table for a reason. They bring in a 4-3-6 away record from their League games played so far and West Ham United have scored 14 goals and conceded 20 in those games.
West Ham United snapped a run of 5 games without a win by coming from behind to beat Fulham 3-1 at the London Stadium on Friday, but they are unbeaten in 3 in a row. They earned a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace in their most recent away game and that result ended a run of 4 consecutive away losses in all competitions where West Ham United had conceded at least two goals per game and lost by at least a two goal margin each time too.
There looks to be no new injury issues for West Ham United who will take the same squad to Manchester that won the game against Fulham on Friday. Fabian Balbuena and Winston Reid are close to returning to the squad.
Head to Head
Manchester City crushed West Ham United 0-4 at the London Stadium in November and they have a very strong record against them there.
Manchester City have won 6 in a row against West Ham United, but the wins at the Etihad Stadium in that time have come by 3-1 and 2-1 scorelines.
Manchester City have won 9 of their last 10 home games against West Ham United.
Prediction
On paper you can understand why the layers are taking no chances by pricing Manchester City as short as they are to win this game, but there has to be some comeback from the League Cup Final going to Extra Time and the emotion sapping penalty shoot out.
Injuries have been the main factor out of the Cup Final with Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho lost until next month and they join John Stones and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines. There is still plenty of quality for Pep Guardiola to pick from, but tiredness has to be a potential factor against a West Ham United team who last played on Friday.
Manuel Pellegrini's side have caused problems for opponents when at their best, but they are a hard team to get a read on. One week they are battering Liverpool from pillar to post, but on another they are being beaten 3-0 at Wolves and perhaps fortunate not to have conceded double that amount.
West Ham United can't afford to be off their game in this one if they are going to challenge Manchester City and I do think they can at least trouble a defence that is not going to be at full strength. The Hammers have pace and some decent quality in the final third and I think they may get on the scoreboard for a fourth consecutive visit to the Etihad Stadium.
It is still hard to think they will get a result here considering the amount of goals being conceded by West Ham United away from home in the last six weeks. However the best play may be backing them to score in a losing effort and at the price that could be the best option on a day where it is hard to really know what kind of West Ham United team will turn up.
I do think it will be difficult for them to not expose some tiredness in the Manchester City team and the injuries at the back though and so that is my selection from this Premier League fixture to round out the game week.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 3-1 West Ham United
