Man City v West Ham – Betting Preview & Tips

West Ham travel to the Etihad Sunday looking to spoil Man City’s title party. Manuel Pellegrini’s side only need a point to become champions. Jaymes Monte previews.

Form
There were some nervous moments in the opening 45 minutes of City’s midweek meeting with Aston Villa, but once Edin Dzeko put the Citizens in front it was all one-way traffic and the 4-0 scoreline highlighted their second-half dominance.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men have now won their last four Premier League matches to move two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, knowing that just a point against West Ham this Sunday will secure a second title in three seasons.

Yaya Toure scored his 20th league goal of the season in the dying minutes of Wednesday’s game, but more significantly it was Manchester City’s 100th league goal of the campaign. Edin Dzeko bagged his second brace in consecutive matches to make it five from his last three games and 16 for the season.

West Ham come into the game on the front foot also, having ended a four-game losing streak with an impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham last weekend. Although they have nothing to play for in real terms, the Hammers will be keen to leave a stamp on this season by having a direct impact on the resting place of the Premier League title.

Team News
Sergio Aguero missed the midweek win after being forced out of the game against Everton last weekend with a groin injury, it’s unlikely that he’ll feature here with the pending World Cup playing a part in the player’s considerations. Matija Nastasic and Jesus Navas are both also unavailable due to injury.

West Ham have no fresh injury concerns going into the game and can be expected to field a full strength side.

Head-to-Head
In the three meetings between the two sides this season – once in the league at Upton Park and two legs in the Capital One Cup semi-final – City have scored a total of 12 goals, with the cup game at the Etihad ending 6-0 in favour of the hosts.

Alvaro Negredo has scored five of those 12 goals, including a hat-trick in the aforementioned 6-0 win, Sergio Aguero has scored three (of the 12), Edin Dzeko two and one each for Yaya Toure and David Silva. West Ham’s only goal in the three games came from Ricardo Vaz Te.

Recommended Bets
City should be able to get the job done here, but, much like the midweek game against Villa, there could be some nervy moments along the way. At odds of 1/7 I wouldn’t want to back the hosts for all three points and instead would look to the Half Time/Full Time market where Draw/City can be backed at odds of 10/3 and is a bet that would have paid out on Wednesday against Villa.

Yaya Toure is driving City towards this title and it would be fitting for him to get the goal that puts them on course in this game. He is 4/1 to get the opener or 11/10 to score anytime.