West Ham United vs Manchester City preview, team news, tickets & prediction

Matchday 3 of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign sees Manchester City travel to the London Stadium for what should be an interesting early-season clash. 

Manchester City have been the dominant force in English football as victory over West Ham United on the final day of last season crowned them champions for an unprecedented fourth season in a row.

City have now scored three times in each of the last three fixtures against the Hammers who are looking for their first league win against the champions in 17 matches. 

Nevertheless, the East London side has shown signs of excellence as they finished 14th in the standings in 2022/23 but celebrated Europa Conference League triumph, their first major trophy since 1980 and first European victory in 58 years.

West Ham finished ninth last term to end an unprecedented run of three consecutive seasons in Europe, and David Moyes’ four-year reign in his second stint at the Irons was a resounding success. 

West Ham has become a real force in recent years despite not being among the traditional Big Six Premier League clubs. They enjoyed the stability of performances and a structure behind the scenes that saw them ascend from struggling for top-flight survival to competing for the top four positions.

The growing clamour for a more progressive style of play to match the quality of talent at their disposal led to the Scotsman not renewing his contract, now they are looking forward to Julen Lopetegui in charge.  

The Spaniard’s appointment is an interesting one as he is a coach with Premier League experience looking to make a bigger impression with an ambitious club. In West Ham, he finds a club willing to embrace the next stage of their development.

Despite an abrupt exit from Wolves on the eve of the 2023/24 season, Lopetegui was appreciated for what he achieved at the Molineux. He is originally known for a high-pressing, front-foot style of play that will delight the West Ham faithful who got sick of the boring brand of football played under their previous manager. 

West Ham have embraced a structured approach, with Tim Steidten overseeing the recruitment of players while Lopetegui looks to form a side capable of challenging for European qualification places.

The specific player demands must be met for this overhaul of West Ham’s playing style to be achieved.

Yet, they have made some smart recruitment choices in recent years as the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus, Nayef Aguerd, Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse were signed to great effect. This makes West Ham well capable of a return to European competitions which is one of their primary targets going into this season.

Manchester City start another season as the team to beat but this writer doubts West Ham would pull that off given the overwhelming position of strength Pep Guardiola finds himself in. 

The Cityzens take on the likes of Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea before the season’s curtain-raiser against Manchester United. They will begin the league campaign at Enzo Maresca’s Stamford Bridge debut then host Ipswich Town, before returning to London to play West Ham. 

It is left to the chasing pack to catch up, and to continue to win, Guardiola must bolster the competitive edge in his squad with some smart signings in the summer transfer window. 

Match tickets

This Premier League fixture is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 31 August 2024 at 5:30 PM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on the website of each club but priority will be given to ticket holders and club members. 

It is set to be a sold-out London Stadium so official ticket sources may be unable to accommodate late requests to fill up the 62,500-capacity stadium. Both sets of fans would be loud and full of optimism, but the home crowd will be keen on a statement result under their new manager. 

Hence, we urge away fans making the journey south to search for their West Ham vs Man City tickets on a resale site. 

Team news

The Irons have already brought in the likes of Luis Guilherme, Wes Foderingham and Max Kilman so far, and they are still looking to sign another centre-back, a full-back, a central midfielder and a striker to complete their summer recruitment. 

West Ham have agreed a deal to sign French defender Jean-Clair Todibo from Nice on a season-long loan, with an option to buy for about £27m. To provide competition for Vladimir Coufal, Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka is their first-choice option at right-back while they are also in the driving seat to land Reiss Nelson from Arsenal.

To provide depth up front for Michail Antonio and Danny Ings, Jhon Duran is being considered as Lopetegui’s ideal striker. 

Manchester City have signed Savio from Troyes and the Brazilian winger will add to their attacking ranks, but one man whose future is uncertain is Julian Alvarez. The Argentine striker is reportedly unhappy with his playing time and has been linked with Paris Saint-Germain but may have to force his way out of the Etihad Stadium

Meanwhile, the Sky Blues remain in the race to sign highly-rated Benfica midfielder Joao Neves this summer.

Line-ups

Jarrod Bowen hit a career-high 20 goals and 10 assists in all competitions last term and he is the team’s marksman alongside the impressive Mohammed Kudus.

However, West Ham is sweating on the availability of two key men as Edson Alvarez suffered a hamstring injury during the Copa America with Mexico and will miss pre-season. The ongoing betting investigation into Lucas Paqueta is also a major concern should he get banned before the season starts. 

West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Kilman, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Bowen, Kudus, Paqueta; Antonio

Phil Foden was the star of City’s show last season as he was crowned the Premier League’s Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year after 19 goals and eight assists in 35 league outings. 

Erling Haaland has scored four times in four career appearances against West Ham and needs no reminder as one to keep an eye on. 

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Bernardo, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland

Prediction

Considering the relentless nature of Man City’s performances, it is difficult to back against them claiming all three points once again at West Ham. Nevertheless, the hosts will be a bit of an unknown quantity under their new manager so it is set to be an exciting one for them. 

As expected, Man City are heavy favourites having won 18 of their last 22 league matches at the time of writing. 

West Ham 1-3 Man City