Man City will be back in action this Saturday when they head to the London Stadium to take on a buoyant West Ham United in the Premier League.
MCFC will obviously go into this away fixture as the favourites but West Ham are currently fourth on the EPL table, just two points behind league leaders Manchester City. Causing an upset will be a major uphill task but Moyes will be hoping his in-form side can at least pick up a point this weekend.
City, like always, have made the perfect start to their new campaign and they go into the Hammers game at the back of a 5-1 win over Fulham before the international break.
Pep Guardiola does have a few injury concerns going into Saturday’s game so it will be interesting to see how the Spanish manager sets up his side. He’s been relying on a four-man backline this season and despite so many big-name players being injured, we don’t think the manager is going to tinker with his formation.
Manchester City’s team news and injuries:
Josko Gvardiol was an unused sub against Fulham in that 5-1 win and he will be pushing for a start this weekend however it remains to be seen if Pep brings him into the first XI or not.
Jack Grealish has been recovering from a quadriceps strain but the winger is expected to be back to full fitness when MCFC take on West Ham United. Phil Foden played wide left in Grealish’s absence but if Grealish is available then Foden is going to move back to the bench.
The midfielder area is a cause of concern for the Man City manager because Kevin De Bruyne is out injured until December and Mateo Kovacic has picked up a lower back injury during the international break.
The summer signing is set to undergo a scan and as per reports, he is going to miss around 10 days of action which means he will be unavailable for the Hammers game.
His national team manager has confirmed: ‘He will have to undergo an MRI scan. He is threatened with a break of ten days, maybe longer.’
Thankfully, John Stones will recover in time from his thigh problem and if Kovacic misses the trip to London then we think Guardiola is going to put Stones in defensive midfield, alongside Rodri. This position isn’t alien to him at all because last season, he played a lot of matches as the second holding midfielder. City have signed Matheus Nunes from Wolves so he can also get his first start for the club.
Apart from these few injury concerns, the Man City manager has a fully fit squad to choose from which means both Erling Haaland and Alvarez will get starts, the latter playing as the No 10.
Jérémy Doku played his first match for Man City against Fulham but this weekend, he will move to the bench, thereby allowing Bernardo Silva to come back into the starting line up and reclaim his position on the right wing.
Man City predicted line up vs West Ham United:
Predicted Starting line up(4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake; Rodri. John Stones/Phillips; Alvarez, Silva, Grealish; Erling Haaland.
