West Ham face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League. The match takes place at the London Stadium on August 31 at 5:30PM. New manager Julen Lopetegui will be hoping to continue his club’s good run of form after his side beat Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth to enter the Carabao Cup third round. Last Word on Football brings you a West Ham predicted lineup as the Hammers host Manchester City.
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs Manchester City
How West Ham Have Lined-up Recently
Alphonse Areola is almost certain to start in goal for the Hammers. The former France international has started both Premier League matches so far, keeping a clean sheet in his last performance against Crystal Palace; a side that West Ham have failed to beat since January 1, 2022, where they won 3-2 away at Selhurst Park.
So far this term, Areola has saved 60% of shots faced and has a long ball accuracy percentage of 61%. That being said, substitute goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski started against AFC Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup this week. The 39-year-old played 23 matches last season for the Hammers, with nine appearances in the UEFA Europa League.
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Lopetegui’s preferred defence has been very consistent in the league with a back four of Emerson, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Vladimir Coufal. Kilman has made a very impressive start to life at his new club after being signed from Wolves earlier this summer.
In his last appearance for the club, the former Wolves captain not only had a passing accuracy of 89%, but he also gained an assist to Jarrod Bowen’s strike to double the lead. Early in the second half, Coufal was replaced by new summer signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who had an impressive display midweek. Aaron Cresswell came on to replace Emerson to shut up shop one minute before the end of the match.
Tomáš Souček, Lucas Paqueta and new summer signing Guido Rodriguez have started in midfield in all league matches so far for West Ham. In their opening match against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who lost 2-0 to Arsenal last weekend, Lopetegui played a 4-3-3 with all midfielders playing level to each other. Albeit, against Crystal Palace, tactics were slightly altered with the former Real Madrid and Wolves manager positioning Rodriguez further back as a defensive midfielder in a 4-1-2-3.
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The front three has also been the same in the league with Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen up front. Bowen was pivotal in the last match, doubling the lead for West Ham. Antonio was replaced halfway through the second half with Niclas Fullkrug, the new summer signing from Borussia Dortmund who started against Bournemouth midweek. Despite completing the most dribbles in the match, Kudus was later replaced by Jean-Clair Todibo who is on loan from Ligue 1 side OGC Nice.
West Ham Recent Form
It is fair to say that Lopetegui didn’t get off to a dream start at West Ham, with a poor pre-season. In the five matches, the Hammers faced in the summer, they only won once, and that came against fifth-division side Dagenham and Redbridge in a 1-0 win. Moreover, they lost twice against Premier League opposition in the United States against Wolves and Crystal Palace, albeit, they won comfortably against the latter when it mattered most.
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In their first Premier League match, Aston Villa who will be competing in the UEFA Champions League this season, snatched all three points from the London Stadium thanks to a 79th-minute winner from Jhon Duran. Possession was shared almost evenly and the hosts had a slightly better xG, however, despite both sides only having three shots on target, Emery’s side took those chances.
Despite this defeat, fortunes turned on the road against Glasner’s Palace. The visitors struck twice in the second half despite having much less possession. Despite this, West Ham did have a higher xG and had more shots and shots on target than the Eagles. Bournemouth turned out to be a slightly tougher opposition, yet despite an even game, Bowen snatched a ticket to Anfield to play Liverpool in the third round.
West Ham Absences to Consider
Differing from their opposition, Lopetegui’s side is fortunate, with the Spaniard only having one injury to consider ahead of his team selection. This comes through Left-back Cresswell who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury which he picked up yesterday. He is expected to return to full training in mid-September.
Cresswell played 18 matches for the Hammers last season, with eleven of those appearances coming in the Premier League. He also registered a goal in the UEFA Europa League, which came in a 5-0 home win against Freiburg.
Kurt Zouma is also expected not to be present, as he has been forced out of the club despite a failed move to UAE side Shabab Al-Ahli. There are no set plans for his return to action.
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs AFC Bournemouth
GK – Areola
LB – Emerson
CB – Mavropanos
CB – Kilman
RB – Emerson
CDM – Rodriguez
CM – Soucek
CM – Paqueta
LW – Kudus
ST – Antonio
RW – Bowen
