West Ham United vs. Manchester City
West Ham go into this fixture wallowing at the absolute bottom of the Barclays Premier league tables and this match will see them fight tooth and nail to avoid relegation. The previous time the Hammers were in a battle to avoid
being relegated to a lower league-the Championship competition, they had the services of Carlos Tevez. The Argentinian striker is now part of Manchester City’s squad with Roberto Mancini’s club in a very different position to Avram Grant’s. City currently
occupy the fourth position and a win will lift them to the top of the English Premier League table, where Arsenal currently resides, having acquired thirty two points. A win for Avram Grant’s side will perhaps secure a place outside the bottom three relegation
zones. Carlos Tevez will not feature for the Sky Blues as he is under a ban for one match, due to being shown a fifth yellow card this season in last week’s Premier League fixture.
Manchester City have done remarkably well this season, as they have not succumbed to a defeat since October in the Premier League and the club have recently performed particularly well against the London clubs. Their match against
Tottenham in their first fixture of the season proved to be a goalless stalemate at White Hart Lane. They proceeded to smash Fulham at Craven Cottage in a fixture which ended 1-4, in favour of the Sky Blues and Manchester City players managed to score all
their goals in the first half of the match. The club under Roberto Mancini has managed to remain undefeated in all six of their away fixtures against the London clubs.
All hope is not lost for the Hammers, as they have not succumbed to defeat in their previous five matches at home and three of the games were played in the premier League. They managed to secure victory against Manchester United
in the League Cup competition, a match which ended 4-0. They will be looking to beat another team from Manchester when the Sky Blues arrive at Upton Park on Saturday.
Both teams have played sixteen fixtures so far this season, with City securing twenty nine points compared to West Ham’s twelve. The Hammers have only won two of their previous games, six worse than Manchester City. Mancini’s team
have drawn five matches, one less than Grant’s side and lost three matches, compared to the eight times the Hammers have seen defeat this season. Grant’s squad has scored fourteen goals and conceded twenty seven, compared to Manchester City’s twenty goals
scored and twelve conceded. City have the worse disciplinary record, as the Sky Blue players have acquired thirty three yellow cards and three red cards this season. West Ham have no red cards, but twenty six yellow cards being shown to their squad members.
West Ham may reign victorious at Upton Park, as their Premier League record against Manchester City shows the Hammers have won twenty four games out of forty two. City have managed to secure a victory only ten times. The previous
time City won at Upton Park was on the first day of the 2007-08 season, where the secured a 2-0 victory. Rolando Bianchi and Geovanni were the goal scorers of the match, both players commonly being referred to as ‘one season wonders.’ The Hammers have only
claimed six wins in the league in the whole of 2010 so far, which has earned them a total of 29 points.
Injury worries for West Ham include Valon Behrami and the club is aiming to test the player’s fitness level before handing the midfielder a position in the squad in the fixture against Manchester City. Another player, Mark Noble
will be unavailable for the rest of the year after sustaining a similar injury Thomas Hitzlsperger, Manuel da Costa, Anthony Edgar, Peter Kurucz and Jack Collison will not feature for their side, as they all have sustained long term injuries.
Apart from Carlos Tevez, Aleksandar Kolarov has also incurred a suspension and will not play against West Ham. Mancini may not worry over Kolo Toure, as reports have emerged that the player, who previously was thought to have sustained
a serious long term thigh injury, may have recovered in time for this fixture.
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