Manchester City play host to West Harm United on Sunday afternoon looking to strengthen their hold of second position in the Premier League table.
After losing out at Tottenham Hotspur, City now sit 22 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, realistically leaving them to focus on remaining ahead of Leicester City.
However, while there are players who are closing in on a return to action, Pep Guardiola has been given fresh selection dilemmas ahead of their next contest.
Manchester City will be aiming to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur when they welcome West Ham United at their Etihad Stadium on Matchday 26. The Citizens failed to impress in Sunday’s clash against Kane-less Spurs, and, to make things even worse for the fans, Ukraine international Zinchenko is going to miss the West Ham game through suspension.
However, home win should be considered as the Hammers have been struggling at the back in 2020. West Ham United dropped a two-goal advantage in a 3-3 draw with Brighton, with the team dropping to the relegation zone in the Premier League standings.
David Moyes’ men are not regarded as good travellers; therefore, we do not believe that they are capable of spoiling Man City’s party at Etihad Stadium. In their last meeting in Manchester the Citizens recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Hammers.
Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy may be back in contention after missing the last three matches.
The fitness of Raheen Sterling will also be monitored following the knock picked up by the England international in last Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Spurs.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is suspended after being sent off at Spurs. Leroy Sane has returned to training but remains sidelined.
Andriy Yarmolenko (thigh), Felipe Anderson (chest) and Jack Wilshere (groin) are injured for the Hammers and not expected to be fit for Sunday.
City suffered a frustrating afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, going down to a 2-0 defeat to the Londoners.
West Ham, meanwhile, were involved in a six-goal thriller at home to Brighton, sharing the spoils in a 3-3 draw.
West Ham United boss David Moyes is in desperate need of some good news right now.The Hammers have slipped into the relegation zone ahead of daunting trips to Manchester City and Liverpool.
An inexplicable collapse when twice boasting two-goal leads against relegation rivals Brighton last time out left Moyes’s side clinging on for a draw. As seems to be West Ham’s luck – or lack of it – this season they will face a City side reeling from consecutive defeats.
City will also be hungry for goals having failed to score for two games in a row for the first time under Pep Guardiola. It all seems a bit ominous for pessimistic West Ham fans. And there is bad news on the injury front too ahead of the game at the Etihad.
Anderson and Yarmolenko to miss Etihad clash
According to Claret and Hugh, which regularly claims to have a top level source inside West Ham, both Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko will miss the match.
It was hoped the pair would be available to give Moyes a big boost from an attacking point of view. But Claret and Hugh says the game comes too soon for both. Anderson has resumed light training but the inaugural winter break – which kicks in for two weeks after the City clash – will prove vital in the pair getting back to full fitness.
That break will also give new signings Tomas Soucek – who played his first competitive game for two months against Brighton – and Jarrod Bowen more time to fully bed in. Moyes will be hoping the added quality will give him enough in his armoury to get the five wins West Ham are likely to need to survive.
However, Sport Mole rounds up City’s latest injury and suspension news ahead of squaring off against the Hammers at the Etihad Stadium.
Leroy Sane: Having recently spent time training with the rest of his teammates, Sane is believed to be closing in on a return from a serious knee injury. While an appearance this weekend is highly unlikely, do not rule out the possibility of the winger featuring among the replacements.
Benjamin Mendy: While Mendy missed out on an appearance against Spurs, Guardiola has previously suggested that the left-back will be available for game against West Ham.
Aymeric Laporte: Like with Mendy, Laporte has been suffering with muscle fatigue. However, Guardiola feels that the centre-back, who has recovered from a serious knee injury, is likely to be available for Sunday.
Raheem Stanling: During the closing stages against Spurs, Sterling sustained what appeared to be a hamstring injury. With reports suggesting that he may miss City’s Champions League fixture with Real Madrid at the end of the month, it appears highly unlikely that the winger will be available this weekend.
HEAD_TO-HEAD
West Ham Matches Win Draw Lose
Overall 38 12 11 15
Home 19 9 4 6
Away 19 3 7 9
Man. City Matches Win Draw Lose
Overall 38 24 7 7
Home 19 14 3 2
Away 19 10 4 5
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Everton vs Crystal Palace
Brighton vs Watford
Sheffield Utd vs Bournemouth
Man. City vs West Ham Utd
Roma vs Bologna
Fiorentina vs Atalanta
Torino vs Sampdoria
Verona vs Juventus
Spal vs Sassuolo
Brescia vs Udinese
Genoa vs Cagliari
Napoli vs Lecce
Parma vs Lazio
Inter Milan vs AC Milan
Alaves vs Eibar
Levante vs Leganes
Getafe vs Valencia
Real Valladolid vs Villarreal
Atletico Madrid vs Granada
Espanyol vs Real Mallorca
Athletic Bilbao vs Osasuna
R/ Madrid vs Celta Vigo
Sevilla vs Real Betis
Barcelona vs
Frankfurt vs FC Augsburg
Hertha Berlin vs Mainz
SC Freiburg vs Hoffenheim
Schalke vs SC Paderborn 07
Bremen vs Union Berlin
Wolfsburg vs Düsseldorf
Leverkusen vs Dortmund
M’gladbach vs Cologne
B/Munich vs RB Leipzig
Angers vs Lille
Marseille vs Toulouse
Amiens vs Monaco
Dijon vs Nantes
Metz vs Bordeaux
Nice vs Nimes
Rennes vs Brest
Montpellier vs St Etienne
Strasbourg vs Reims
PSG vs Lyon
Enyimba vs Abia Warriors
Katsina Utd vs Warri Wolves
Akwa Utd vs Rangers Intl
Sunshine Stars vs IfeanyiUbah
Adamawa Utd vs Heartland
MFM F.C vs Kano Pillars
Rivers Utd vs Kwara United
Dakkada F.C vs Plateau United
Lobi Stars F.C vs Wikki Tourist
Jigawa G/Stars vs Nasarawa Utd
NPFL
Team MP W D L G Pts
Plateau United 18 9 5 4 27:12 32
Lobi Stars 17 9 4 4 19:9 31
Rivers United 18 8 5 5 18:12 29
Dakkada FC 18 7 7 4 20:15 28
Sunshine Stars 18 7 6 5 22:18 27
Akwa United 18 7 6 5 16:15 27
Heartland 18 7 4 7 13:15 25
Kano Pillars 16 5 9 2 18:9 24
Abia Warriors 18 6 6 6 16:16 24
Ifeanyi Ubah 18 7 3 8 18:20 24
Katsina Utd 17 6 6 5 12:16 24
MFM FC 17 6 5 6 14:12 23
Kwara Utd 17 7 2 8 19:24 23
Wikki Tourist 17 5 7 5 15:15 22
Warri Wolves 17 5 5 7 15:17 20
Jigawa G/Stars 17 5 2 10 17:26 17
Nasarawa 17 4 4 9 18:22 16
Enugu Rangers 12 4 3 5 13:13 15
Enyimba 12 4 3 5 13:16 15
Adamawa Utd 18 4 2 12 13:34 14
EPL
Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Liverpool 25 24 1 0 60 15 45 73
Man City 25 16 3 6 65 29 36 51
Leicester 25 15 4 6 54 26 28 49
Chelsea 25 12 5 8 43 34 9 41
Tottenham 25 10 7 8 40 32 8 37
Sheffield Utd 25 9 9 7 26 23 3 36
Man. Utd 25 9 8 8 36 29 7 35
Wolverhampton 25 8 11 6 35 32 3 35
Everton 25 9 6 10 31 37 -6 33
Arsenal 25 6 13 6 32 34 -2 31
Burnley 25 9 4 12 28 38 -10 31
Newcastle 25 8 7 10 24 36 -12 31
Southampton 25 9 4 12 31 46 -15 31
C/Palace 25 7 9 9 22 29 -7 30
Brighton 25 6 8 11 30 37 -7 26
Bournemouth 25 7 5 13 25 38 -13 26
Aston Villa 25 7 4 14 32 47 -15 25
WestHam Utd 25 6 6 13 30 43 -13 24
Watford 25 5 8 12 23 39 -16 23
Norwich 25 4 6 15 24 47 -23 18
BUNDESLIGA
Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Bayern Munich 20 13 3 4 58 23 35 42
RB Leipzig 20 12 5 3 53 25 28 41
Dortmund 20 11 6 3 56 28 28 39
M’gladbach 20 12 3 5 38 23 15 39
Leverkusen 20 10 4 6 31 24 7 34
Schalke 20 9 7 4 31 26 5 34
Hoffenheim 20 10 3 7 31 31 0 33
SC Freiburg 20 8 5 7 29 30 -1 29
Wolfsburg 20 7 6 7 24 25 -1 27
FC Augsburg 20 7 5 8 33 39 -6 26
Frankfurt 20 7 4 9 32 31 1 25
Union Berlin 20 7 2 11 23 32 -9 23
Hertha Berlin 20 6 5 9 24 34 -10 23
Cologne 20 7 2 11 27 38 -11 23
Mainz 20 6 0 14 28 47 -19 18
W/ Bremen 20 4 5 11 25 46 -21 17
Düsseldorf 20 4 4 12 19 41 -22 16
Paderborn 07 20 4 3 13 25 44 -19 15
LA LIGA
Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Real Madrid 22 14 7 1 40 13 27 49
Barcelona 22 14 4 4 52 26 26 46
Getafe 22 11 6 5 32 20 12 39
Sevilla 22 11 6 5 28 21 7 39
Valencia 22 10 7 5 33 29 4 37
Atletico Madrid 22 9 9 4 22 15 7 36
Villarreal 22 10 4 8 39 30 9 34
Real Sociedad 22 10 4 8 37 30 7 34
Athletic Bilbao 22 7 10 5 22 17 5 31
Granada 22 9 3 10 27 29 -2 30
Osasuna 22 6 10 6 29 28 1 28
Real Betis 22 7 7 8 30 34 -4 28
Levante 22 8 2 12 27 34 -7 26
Real Valladolid 22 5 10 7 18 24 -6 25
Alaves 22 6 6 10 23 32 -9 24
Eibar 22 6 6 10 21 30 -9 24
Real Mallorca 22 5 3 14 22 38 -16 18
Leganes 22 4 6 12 18 34 -16 18
Celta Vigo 22 3 8 11 17 31 -14 17
Espanyol 22 3 6 13 18 40 -22 15
SERIE A
Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Juventus 22 17 3 2 43 21 22 54
Inter Milan 22 15 6 1 44 18 26 51
Lazio 21 15 4 2 52 20 32 49
Atalanta 22 11 6 5 59 30 29 39
Roma 22 11 6 5 40 27 13 39
Cagliari 22 8 8 6 38 34 4 32
Parma 22 9 5 8 31 29 2 32
AC Milan 22 9 5 8 23 27 -4 32
Verona 21 8 6 7 26 23 3 30
Napoli 22 8 6 8 34 31 3 30
Bologna 22 8 6 8 34 34 0 30
Torino 22 8 3 11 26 39 -13 27
Sassuolo 22 7 5 10 36 37 -1 26
Fiorentina 22 6 7 9 25 32 -7 25
Udinese 22 7 3 12 19 35 -16 24
Sampdoria 22 5 5 12 22 37 -15 20
Lecce 22 4 7 11 27 42 -15 19
Genoa 22 3 7 12 23 43 -20 16
Brescia 22 4 3 15 20 41 -21 15
Spal 22 4 3 15 16 38 -22 15
LIGUE 1
Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
PSG 22 18 1 3 57 14 43 55
Marseille 22 12 7 3 30 21 9 43
Rennes 22 12 4 6 29 21 8 40
Lille 22 10 4 8 26 25 1 34
Montpellier 22 9 6 7 30 26 4 33
Lyon 22 9 5 8 35 21 14 32
Reims 22 8 8 6 21 15 6 32
Nice 22 9 5 8 32 30 2 32
Nantes 22 10 2 10 21 22 -1 32
Bordeaux 22 8 6 8 30 24 6 30
Strasbourg 22 9 3 10 27 28 -1 30
Angers 22 8 6 8 24 29 -5 30
Monaco 22 8 5 9 37 39 -2 29
Brest 22 7 7 8 28 30 -2 28
St Etienne 22 8 4 10 25 35 -10 28
Metz 22 6 8 8 22 29 -7 26
Dijon 22 6 6 10 19 24 -5 24
Amiens 22 4 7 11 24 41 -17 19
Nimes 22 4 6 12 19 36 -17 18
Toulouse 22 3 4 15 21 47 -26 13
