West Ham v Manchester City: Tough start for Premier League champions
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West Ham v Man City betting tips and odds
Manchester City start the defence of their Premier League title on Sunday with a tricky trip to West Ham.
City, 4/6 favourites in the Premier League title odds, landed one of the best transfers of the summer in Erling Haaland, but Pep Guardiola also waved goodbye to Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, so it promises to be an interesting season at the Etihad.
The champions are 1/3 to get off to a winning start at the London Stadium so let’s look at some of the angles to help with our West Ham v Man City betting tips.
West Ham v Manchester City form
City’s light pre-season schedule possibly told on Saturday when they lost 3-1 to Liverpool in the Community Shield at the King Power Stadium.
Guardiola’s side played just two friendlies in a tour of the United States, Kevin De Bruyne scoring twice in a 2-1 victory over Mexican outfit Club America and Haaland taking just 12 minutes to score on his debut in a 1-0 win against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
That schedule left them undercooked for Saturday’s traditional Premier League curtain-raiser which saw Julian Alvarez score on his debut after a lengthy VAR review, but Mo Salah’s late penalty and Darwin Nunez’s stoppage-time header consigned City to defeat.
PEP 💬 Congratulations to Liverpool. The first 15, 20 minutes they were better. In the second half we started really well, it was tight after the goal and our game was there.#ManCity pic.twitter.com/s2ZDoaMEM8
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 30, 2022
City won 14 of their 19 away games en route to their fourth title in five seasons and there were at least three goals in their last eight matches, including a 2-2 draw at West Ham in their penultimate game of the campaign which saw City come back from two goals down.
The Hammers have had a frustrating transfer window, failing to bring Jesse Lingard back to the club, although David Moyes finally signed a new striker, Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca, who was the second highest scorer in Serie A last season.
Always bringing a 😄 pic.twitter.com/h98cvtLmsj
— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 1, 2022
West Ham finished seventh last season but have hardly set the world alight in pre-season which included 1-1 draws with Boreham Wood, Reading and Luton, plus a 3-1 defeat at Rangers where new signing Nayef Aguerd sustained an ankle injury which required surgery.
A goalless draw with Lens concluded their preparations for the new campaign, so goals look in short supply. City can be backed at 13/10 to win to nil or 11/4 on a draw or a victory, both teams to score in the second half and over 2.5 goals in the match.
West Ham v Manchester City head to head
The last two Premier League meetings between these teams in this fixture have ended up all square which can be backed at 4/1, while it’s 5/1 on that outcome and goals at both ends for a third successive time.
Incidentally, both teams have scored in four straight Premier League encounters, an option which is available at 4/5.
The Hammers also scored the opening goal on both occasions on home territory and are 11/4 for a repeat or 19/5 to do so in the first half once again in our West Ham v Man City betting tips.
West Ham v Man City team news
City’s pre-season preparations hardly went to plan, with Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan all missing the US tour, while Aymeric Laporte also stayed at home recovering from a knee injury.
With Stones yet to play a match, Nathan Ake started in the heart of defence alongside Ruben Dias, with Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker operating in full-back roles.
🥔🥗👑 pic.twitter.com/lPtD5NOP2v
— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 3, 2022
Haaland missed a sitter from six yards when City were trailing 3-1, but the Norwegian superstar is expected to start at centre-forward, with either Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez or Alvarez supplying the crosses.
De Bruyne has had an excellent pre-season and is expected to start on the right side of midfield, with Rodri in the middle and possibly Bernardo Silva on the left.
West Ham generally lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation last season, with Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek playing in front of the back four which is likely to be made up of Craig Dawson, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal.
Goalscorer odds
Haaland is the 5/2 favourite to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot this season and is understandably 21/10 to open the scoring or 4/5 to find the net any time.
De Bruyne looks better value at 5/1 and 9/5 in the two markets, while City’s top scorer last season, Riyad Mahrez is 5/1 and 2/1.
Putting in the work 💪#ManCity pic.twitter.com/ja9UGWdBjg
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 3, 2022
Silva is well priced at 11/1 and 9/2, while new boy Alvarez is 5/2 and 19/20 in our West Ham v Man City betting tips, although he is not guaranteed to start Sunday’s game.
Scamacca is the 10/1 favourite to break the deadlock from the Hammers contingent, but the £30m new signing may not start, so Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio may look better bets at 11/1 in the first scorer market or they are 4/1 and 9/2 to find the net any time.
Bowen bagged a double in last season’s 2-2 draw and Antonio found the net home and away against City in the 2020-21 season.
Match Info
Where: London Stadium
When: 16:30, Sunday 7th August
How to watch: Sky Sports
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
