After confirming their knockout round berth in the UEFA Europa League with a comfortable victory over Rapid Wein, West Ham United will now visit the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday. The Hammers are currently sitting at 4th place in the table and will be hoping to clinch all three points from Manchester City just like what they did against Liverpool a few weeks back. West Ham have not taken a single point away from City at the Etihad in more than 10 years and Moyes would hope to bring this dismal run to an end when they meet on Sunday.
Let’s take a look at how Moyes will set his team up vs Manchester City on Sunday.
Predicted West Ham United Lineup Vs Manchester City
Defence
Lukas Fabianski will start between the sticks and hope to continue his good form against quality attackers this time when he takes the field.
David Moyes has been dealt a blow in his defensive department when Angelo Ogbonna suffered an ACL injury and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Craig Dawson is expected to fill his void and start at the heart of the defence along with Kurt Zouma. Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell both have been in outstanding form and will start in the fullback positions on Sunday.
Midfield
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek are set to start in the middle of the park, being David Moyes’s most reliable midfielders in the squad. Declan Rice has shown his true potential this season both offensively and defensively as he has been key to West Ham sitting in the Champions League spots. Although the numbers don’t compensate, Soucek has been equally good this season alongside Rice controlling the midfield.
The attacking midfield spot will be taken by Said Benrahma who has already passed his last season’s tally of goals and assists. Nicola Vlasic and Manuel Lanzini are options from the bench for Moyes later in the game when there will be a need for fresh legs.
Attack
Michail Antonio will lead the line vs City on Sunday and hope to return back to scoring ways after failing to score in his last 3 league games. With 6 goals and 3 assists already this season, Moyes will be heavily dependent upon the Jamaican to score at the Etihad.
Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals will start from the wings as they both will look to create chances for Antonio throughout the game. Bowen has been influential for the Hammers this season contributing 2 goals and 4 assists till now in the league. Andriy Yarmolenko will look to come off from the bench and affect the game in the 2nd half and help West Ham secure any point on Sunday.
