2 things to watch for in West Ham United's clash with Manchester City in the Premier League
West Ham United will take on Manchester City at the London Stadium in a crucial Premier League match on Saturday, September 16. The Cityzens are the only team to have a perfect record in the league after four rounds of matches.
West Ham are currently fourth in the league table with 10 points from four matches. They have won their last three matches, including a memorable 3-1 win over Chelsea a few weeks back.
However, it should be quite difficult for them to earn points against Pep Guardiola’s side. On the other hand, Manchester City cannot afford to take David Moyes’ side lightly either.
On that note, let us take a look at two things to watch out for in the match.
#1 West Ham will try to hurt Manchester City through counter-attacks
West Ham is likely to adopt a counter-attacking approach against Manchester City in all probability. They are aware that City will almost dominate ball possession and hence, will try to hurt the champions on the break.
West Ham have speedy forwards like Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma, and Jarrod Bowen, all of whom have the ability to trouble any team with their expeditious runs.
With skilful midfielders like Lucas Paqueta and Pablo Fornals in their team, West Ham will fancy their chances of doing to City what they did to Chelsea through counters. Hence, Rodri and Mateo Kovacic will have to be extra cautious to plug the holes in their defence.
#2 Manchester City might think of playing Phil Foden in a central role
City looked like a much better side when Phil Foden shifted inside from the right flank against Fulham in their last match. Hence, Pep Guardiola might think of playing with a 3-4-1-2 formation, with Foden behind Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez upfront.
City will need numbers upfront to make a dent in the West Ham defence, comprising the likes of Nayeh Aguerd and Kurt Zouma. If Foden plays as a central attacking midfielder, he can cause some serious damage with his slippery runs and quick passes. Manchester City might need that additional presence down the middle to breach a dour West Ham defence.
In addition to that, if Haaland and Alvarez can exchange passes between them like they did against Fulham, the West Ham defenders will have their hands full.
West Ham should start with a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 formation, but might often switch to a five-man defence with their wing-backs dropping back to deal with City’s attacking might. It remains to be seen how well they are able to do that on Saturday.