Manchester City vs West Ham United
Date: 27/02/19
K/O: 20:00
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Manchester City will be without several key players as they continue their push for the quadruple at home to West Ham United.
The freshly crowned Carabao Cup champions lost Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho to injury on Sunday, while John Stones and Benjamin Mendy were already out with existing issues.
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns and are unlikely to make too many changes to the team that beat Fulham last Friday.
Sunday’s Carabao Cup final proved bittersweet for Pep Guardiola. He won his fourth trophy as City boss but lost two of City’s best players this season to injury; Laporte and Fernandinho.
The loss of Frenchman Laporte leaves Guardiola relying on the volatile fitness of captain Vincent Kompany, who will start alongside Nicolas Otamendi in the continued absence of John Stones.
Kyle Walker is expected to continue at right back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko impressed on Sunday and should keep his left back spot ahead of Danilo.
With Fernandinho out, Ilkay Gundogan will move to the Brazilian’s usual deeper role, with two of Kevin De Bruyne, David and Bernardo Silva occupying the other two midfield positions. Fabian Delph will return to the matchday squad alongside Phil Foden.
Gabriel Jesus missed the win over Chelsea but could return to the squad on Wednesday, giving Pep Guardiola a full cohort of attacking players to choose from.
With a punishing Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup schedule impending, City will likely rotate their starting XI in the coming weeks. Raheem Sterling could make way on Wednesday having played 120 minutes on Sunday.
Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez could deputise, while Bernardo Silva may retain his place on the left wing if Guardiola deems him fresh enough.
Friday’s victory over Fulham was only West Ham’s second league win of 2019, and Manuel Pellegrini is expected to field largely the same side.
Lukasz Fabianski will continue in goal, but former City right-back Pablo Zabaleta looks set to drop to the bench having been replaced by Ryan Fredericks at half-time against Fulham following a poor performance.
Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna will retain their places in the centre of defence, though fellow defenders Winston Reid and Fabian Balbuena are closing in on a return to action and could feature in the matchday squad. Pellegrini must choose between Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku at left back.
Declan Rice will again start in deep midfield and is expected to be behind Mark Noble and Robert Snodgrass as the Hammers attempt to thwart City’s attacking threat with guile and work rate in the middle of the park.
Felipe Anderson and Michail Antonio will continue on the wings, but Marko Arnautovic looks set to return to lead the line for the Hammers at the expense of Javier Hernandez.
Predicted Starting XIs
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, De Bruyne, D. Silva; Mahrez, Aguero, B. Silva.
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Antonio, Noble, Snodgrass, Anderson; Arnautovic.
Prediction: Manchester City 2 West Ham 0
