Manchester City visits West Ham United in a matchup of two big money clubs that are vastly underperforming. Both managers, Pep Guardiola for City and Julen Lopetegui for West Ham, are under fire to a certain degree. Of course, the level of heat on each of their seats varies quite a bit. There is a vast disparity in job security between Lopetegui and Pep, but both men very much need a win right now.
Let’s get you caught up on all the “need to knows” for this one.
Man City vs West Ham FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Jan 4, 3pm, Etihad Stadium
Team News for both sides: go here
PL Position, Form: Man City 6th, 31 pts, DLLDW West Ham 13th, 23 pts, WDDWL
Google Result Probability: Man City 73% Draw 15% West Ham 12%
What does the strongest team possible look like for both sides? We’re guessing it might turn out something like this.
Starting XI Predictions
West Ham United
Alphonse Areola; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman, Emerson; Tomas Soucek, Rodriguez; Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Crysencio Summerville; Nicklas Fullkrug
Manchester City
Stefan Ortega; Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol; Mateo Kovacic; Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Savinho; Erling Haaland
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.