Manchester City hope to kick off the new year by getting back to winning ways after an unprecedented run of awful form.
Pep Guardiola’s men have won just two of their last 14 matches across all competitions but managed to overcome Leicester City 2-0 in their last outing in a sign that their form is beginning to turnaround.
The Premier League champions are 14 points off the pace in the title race and face a tricky task of securing a place in the top four which will be their new aim.
They face a West Ham United side who need a confidence boost. Following a four-game unbeaten run the Hammers were battered 5-0 by Liverpool in their most recent outing and things may not get better against Guardiola’s men.
They are without top scorer Jarrod Bowen and need some inspiration if they hope to avoid defeat today.
Follow all the action from the Etihad Stadium with our live blog below:
Man City host West Ham in the Premier League
Man City XI: Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
West Ham XI: Areola, Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta, Kudos, Fullkrug, Summerville
10’ GOAL! Savinho strikes from the right and the ball deflects in (MCI 1-0 WHU)
Manchester City FC 1 – 0 West Ham United FC
15:10
Own goal Vladimír Coufal
15:08
SIDE-NETTING! Building out from the back, West Ham manage to suck their opponents in before hitting on the counter, with Fullkrug and Summerville linking up to play Kudus into the penalty area, but the Ghana international is unable to find the target with his right-footed shot from close range, sending his effort into the side of the goal!
15:07
Paqueta’s volleyed pass out to the right flank for Kudus is tracked down by the winger, who takes on Gvardiol before attempting a cross that’s easily blocked by the recovering defender.
15:04
Haaland drops back to receive Ake’s pass and play one-touch football with Kovacic, but the offside flag is immediately raised – giving West Ham a chance to regain possession in midfield.
15:03
Foden slips a pass to the byline from a position deep on the right wing looking for the incisive run of Lewis, who keeps the ball in play before digging out an off-balance cross that hits the side-netting.
15:01
Manchester City get the match under way from the kick-off!
14:48
West Ham make four alterations from the side that lost 5-0 to Liverpool on Sunday. Todibo is preferred to Mavropanos in defence, while Soucek gets the nod in midfield ahead of Soler. Summerville replaces the uninvolved Emerson Palmieri on the left flank and in attack, an injury to Jarrod Bowen sees Fullkrug lead the line.
14:48
Manchester City name an unchanged XI from the side that beat Leicester City six days ago. Ortega keeps his place between the posts behind a defence consisting of Gvardiol, Ake, Akanji and Lewis. Kovacic sits in midfield behind Silva and De Bruyne, while Savinho and Foden look to supply Haaland from the wings.
14:48
WEST HAM SUBS: Aaron Cresswell, Carlos Soler, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Luis Guilherme, Danny Ings, Wes Foderingham, Guido Rodriguez, Andy Irving, Ollie Scarles.
14:48
WEST HAM XI (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Maximilian Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Vladimir Coufal; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Crysencio Summerville, Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus; Niclas Fullkrug.
14:48
MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Ilkay Gundogan, Matheus Nunes, Scott Carson, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nico O’Reilly, James McAtee.
14:48
MANCHESTER CITY XI (4-1-4-1): Stefan Ortega; Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Rico Lewis; Mateo Kovacic; Savinho, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden; Erling Haaland.
14:48
With 15 minutes to go before kick-off, let’s take a look at how the two sides are lining up – starting with our hosts!
14:37
West Ham’s 5-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool ended a run of four straight games without defeat for Julen Lopetegui’s side, who managed eight points in that time. Sitting in 13th position – just one above Manchester United – the Hammers will be eager to take to the pitch after Tottenham’s loss earlier today, which gives them the opportunity to finish the day in 11th should they manage a first league win against Manchester City since September 2015.
14:32
Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Leicester City last time out was just their second victory in their last 14 fixtures in all competitions and left them in sixth place; four points behind Chelsea for the final Champions League spot and 14 off league-leading Liverpool. Looking to get back to the form that saw them win the Premier League each of the last four seasons, Pep Guardiola could not have hand-picked a better opponent, as Manchester City have beaten today’s opponents in every one of their last five meetings, with each of the last three games ending 3-1.
14:32
Hello and welcome to our LIVE commentary of the Premier League fixture between Manchester City and West Ham!
13:51 , Mike Jones
Man City XI: Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
Your first City XI of 2025 🩵
XI | Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
SUBS | Carson, Walker, Grealish, Doku, Gundogan, Nunes, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/lxOUCTmSLw
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 4, 2025
West Ham XI: Areola, Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta, Kudos, Fullkrug, Summerville
13:00
Follow all the goals and latest action from the Premier League here with The Independent. Team news and line-ups coming up shortly…
