Manchester City vs West Ham Prediction & Betting Tips - Premier League

Prediction published on 05/02/2020, 09:48  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 07/02/2020 at 06:52 in Premier League Prediction

This Premier League weekend pits Manchester City against West Ham at the Etihad. Somehow 22 points behind Liverpool after only 25 games, City will have to be content with second place and must battle for it, only holding a two-point lead over third-placed Leicester. It''s a strange time for Pep Guardiola. For the first time in his City career, they have gone two games (against United and Spurs) without scoring. It's baffling given the number of chances that they created across those two matches. That could be said of City's season in general. A look at the expected points table shows that they could be ahead of Liverpool if their finishing was better and defending more reliable. No team has scored more goals than City (65), yet the reigning champions are still substandard considering their high shots-per-game average (19.9). If Guardiola is to salvage something from the season, he needs to get his attacking players to be more clinical in front of goal.

Having said all that, it's not the best time for West Ham to make the trip to Manchester. City rarely needs to get out of first gear to beat the Hammers - winning the last six matches by an aggregate of 20-3 - and now their opponents have their teeth bared. Even if City pass up a glut of chances, they cannot fail to score against a Hammers defence that capitulates regularly. They threw away a two-goal lead against Brighton last weekend and the resulting 3-3 draw leaves them in the relegation zone. There is still time for them to save themselves. However, any salvage will have to begin after this weekend. Back City with a -3 handicap.