West Ham United will play hosts to the reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City at the London Stadium on Saturday looking to stretch their three-match unbeaten run in the league. The Hammers will face off against a dominant City side who would not settle for anything less than a win this weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini could opt to continue with his favoured 4-1-4-1 set-up and might bring Mark Noble back into his starting XI after he had to sit out of West Ham’s last three domestic matches due to suspension.
4-1-4-1 West Ham United Predicted Lineup To Face Manchester City
Defence
Łukasz Fabiański should retain his goalkeeping duties at the London Stadium despite failing to keep a clean sheet in each of his past five league outings for the Hammers. The Polish shot-stopper will witness the centre-back duo of Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop lining up in front of him as they look to find a way to stop the Citizens from scoring this weekend.
Pablo Zabaleta is currently Pellegrini’s only fit right-back so he should continue to feature in West Ham’s backline while Aaron Cresswell resumes his full-back responsibilities on the left side of the Hammers defence.
Midfield
Declan Rice has been outstanding with his performances for the East London club this season. He primarily operates as a deep-lying defensive midfielder who protects the back four and links up play with the front players in the opposition half.
The duo of Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang could start ahead of the Republic of Ireland international as Pellegrini might choose to opt for hard-working players to stop City’s dominance at the centre of the pitch. Moreover, Robert Snodgrass is suspended for this clash which means that the Hammers would be short of attacking options in central midfield.
Felipe Anderson had enjoyed a rich vein of form before the international break so he would look to continue to be a threat down the left flank. Grady Diangana has incredible potential and is always looking to improve as a winger on the right side.
Attack
Marko Arnautovic will lead the charge for the home team up top as he looks to make his mark against one of the meanest defences in the Premier League. The Austrian striker has already scored five goals and created one assist in 11 matches for West Ham this season so we can expect him to be Pellegrini’s biggest weapon going forward.
