Manchester City v West Ham United - KO-12:30 GMT Saturday 27th February 2021 -Premier League Match Preview and MDT | Vital Football

Manchester City v West Ham United - KO-12:30 GMT Saturday 27th February 2021 -Premier League Match Preview and MDT

Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear

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The Show Must Go On
I read this week that if the stadiums were full of fans, City would not be many points ahead at the top of the table, I can't remember who said it, but it might be because his Club's fans get away with intimidation of the higher order and it does not matter if City play before fans or not, they still would play the same way, I am not sure that is true, what is true is that the atmosphere at Maine Road was electric on occasions, but that has not been the case at the Etihad and I hope in the future, there will be safe standing allowed.
This weekend's game is against West Ham, who could be classed as the surprise team of the season sitting currently in a Champions League Spot fans or no fans, they are doing OK. I just hope they have a nice journey to Manchester but that is it.
Richard Dunne and Michael Brown will be the guests on City's OS www.mancity.com live matchday show alongside host, Natalie Pike on We’re Not Really Here (#WNRH if you are a tweeter)

City Team News
Pep Guardiola will provide the latest on how the squad is shaping up ahead of our game with West Ham in his pre-match press conference on Friday, but as far as I understand Nathan Ake, is the only doubt, but Kyle Walker did take an injury to his foot, but should be available for selection.

Beat the Pep
Ederson
Cancelo Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko
De Bruyne, Gundogan, Sterling, Bernardo, Foden
Aguero

Match Officials
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett
Fourth official: Paul Tierney
VAR: Andre Marriner
Assistant VAR: Eddie Smart

On The Box
A BT Sport game (Uk subscription)

Next
Premier League Tuesday 2nd March 2021. 20:00 GMT (another BT Sport game.
Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
 
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Looking forward to this game, I like their CF Antonio, big, fast and tough. Should be a good battle with our #3. We should expect to win, but the Hammers will be up for it.
 
Commentary By John Edwards @ManCity
10:45
Injury news
Today’s teams will be announced at 11:30, though we do already know both teams will have players absent today.
City’s squad is in better health than our opponents, with Nathan Ake the only man to miss out as he remains sidelined with a muscular problem. We could see Sergio Aguero in Premier League action for the first time since 3 January after he made his return in the midweek win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
 
Commentary By John Edwards @ManCity
11:15
Pep - City an incredibly strong organisation
A 20th consecutive victory is the aim for City today. It's a remarkable run in a season when many teams have struggled for consistency and Pep Guardiola says it is a combination of our strength on and off the pitch.
“First of all, we have an incredibly strong organisation. Lovely people. The backroom staff, staff, players. But when you achieve what this club has achieved in four years - winning a lot of games - you have to have top players.
“There are other clubs with bigger budgets. We have to live with this. We have an incredibly strong organisation. The club supports us. In all departments, it’s incredible. It was the same in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“All departments in the club - we are a machine. But to win what we have done in the last four seasons - we won a lot of games, arrived in finals and won titles - you have to have good players.”
 
kick-off and both made some rather interesting comparisons…

Guardiola on Moyes:

“The season will speak for itself - he knows football perfectly. Like Carlo Ancelotti, everything is calm. They live like a Buddha life! They have that experience to do this. It will be a really tough game tomorrow, really tight. They are a good team.

"He always takes care of me. My first game in England was against Sunderland. He was there and was so kind. He gave me advice on how to handle the Premier League."
 
Moyes on Guardiola:

"Pep is the Heston Blumenthal of football. Blumenthal will do something stupid or outrageous that you would never dream of, like mixing chocolate with eggs and you think 'that is never going to work, it is not going to taste right or look good'. But it does.

"Pep does things in football terms which are remarkable, that lots of other people would not have thought of. I hold him in such high esteem. He is innovative and always looking for new ideas.”
 
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Torres, Aguero.

SUBS: Steffen, Sterling, Jesus, Laporte, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Mendy, Cancelo, Foden.
 
Sergio Aguero starts for the first time since our 1-1 draw with West Ham back in October as Pep Guardiola makes seven changes to the side that kicked-off against Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek.

Kevin De Bruyne also returns to the XI after a watching brief in Budapest, with Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan the four men retained from the Champions League victory. mancity.com
 
Commentary By John Edwards @ManCity
12:21
Facts and figures
🔹 City are enjoying the longest competitive winning streak in history by an English top-flight team and 13 of our 19 successive victories have come in the league.
🔹 We are unbeaten in 26 games across all competitions (W23, D3) - two matches shy of our longest run without defeat under Pep Guardiola, set in 2017.
🔹 City have not trailed at any point in our past 17 league fixtures, conceding just four goals.
🔹Our tally of 15 clean sheets is the most by any team after 25 top-flight games since 2008-09.
🔹 Ilkay Gündogan has scored nine Premier League goals in 2021, four more than any other player.
🔨 West Ham have won seven of their nine Premier League games in 2021.
🔨 The Hammers are in the top four after 25 top-flight matches for the first time since 1986, when they finished third.
🔨 A seventh away win of the season this Saturday would equal the club's Premier League record for a single campaign, last achieved in 2015-16.
 
Richard Dunne - West Ham can hurt City
Our We're Not Really Here guest has earmarked West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek as someone who could pose a threat to City today.
"He’s someone who can cause trouble. His instincts inside the box are great and he’s like a copy of what Moyes had at Everton in terms of Fellaini. He has the instinct to be in the right place at the right time. They have what it takes to hurt City."
 
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