Can West Ham stop Manchester City on their own turf?
From a match they were expected to win, to one they’re expected to get demolished in, West Ham have a tricky change to make. Can they dent City’s title hopes this Wednesday night?
After a brief stumble at the start of the match and a little helping hand from Chicharito, West Ham cantered to a 3-1 win over Fulham. The pressure was on the Hammers in a match they were expected to win, but they pushed their quality and at the end of the match it showed. Now they have a different challenge.
Manchester City are arguably one of the best sides ever assembled. With strength in depth that is probably unparalleled and a strikeforce that scores enough for two teams they are heavy favourites for the midweek encounter. How should the Hammers set up for the match and what should we really be expecting from the match?
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Well to start off I will say that Pellegrini, despite his connection to City, will not be rolling over to aid their chase of Liverpool. He’s a professional and his team now is more important than previous allegiances. We have a chance, however slight, to get 7th, or maybe reach our record point total. He will be focused on that.
I think he’s sensible enough to understand that we will need to be fairly solid against the best strikeforce in the country, so I think we will see a midfield three of Snodgrass-Noble-Rice. That being said, we played with Nasri in the middle against Arsenal and controlled that encounter, so if he wants to take the game to the Champions swapping Lanzini in for Snodgrass could be an interesting move. But I think it would leave us a little light when protecting our own goal.
When it comes to the fullbacks, Cresswell is nailed on because Masuaku is awful. On the right hand side I think we will see Fredericks return, because his pace will be necessary in keeping Sterling/Sane/(insert other City winger here) out because they attack with such venom and speed. I don’t think Zabaleta has it in him to keep that kind of attack out.
Next. Irons record solid win over Fulham. dark
As for if we have a chance…of course we do! Am I expecting anything? No. Our seasons isn’t defined by these games so I will not get overly mad at any result, I just want to see a performance that the side can be proud of. A win would be amazing, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.