**West Ham face Manchester City tomorrow as they continue their efforts to remain in the Premier League this season.**
Following an excellent win at Fulham, the Irons are now level on points with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest with eight games to go.
However, their next opponent is a title-chasing Manchester City side whom they have never beaten in the league during Pep Guardiola’s near decade-long tenure.
The Hammers come into the game at the London Stadium in good form, having picked up eight points from their last five games. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have secured 14 points from their last eight league matches to catapult themselves towards safety.
But City have also been in excellent form, winning four of their last five league games. The only points they dropped in that run came in a draw in their most recent league game against Nottingham Forest – winning that game would have seen the Irons leapfrog Vítor Pereira’s side in the table.
However, despite their recent fortunes, Guardiola’s side were convincingly beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Federico Valverde scored a hat-trick to secure a 3-0 victory in the first leg of the round-of-16 tie.
Saturday’s encounter in Stratford starts a busy week for the eight-time Premier League champions. Three days after the game at West Ham, City face Real Madrid in the second leg of their European tie. They then face Arsenal in the League Cup final next weekend.
Given how occupied Guardiola’s side will be over the next week, the Hammers could have the slightest chance of picking up a result if they play their cards right.
However, one big blow to Nuno’s side is the injury to Crysencio Summerville. The Dutch winger was injured during the FA Cup tie with Brentford on Monday and will miss Saturday’s clash.
Adama Traoré is expected to take the place of Summerville on Saturday. The Spaniard is yet to score for the Irons but has more goals against City than any other side he has faced in his career.
Summerville is the only Hammer expected to miss the game, with Pablo recently back from a spell on the sidelines and Freddie Potts returning from suspension. City are still without Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol, who could both miss the rest of the season.
Saturday’s clash will be a tough test for Nuno’s side. But given their current momentum and City’s busy schedule, they may just have a chance of nicking a point in East London.
What’s more likely is that Erling Haaland will score a hat-trick and add to the 11 goals he has already scored against West Ham. But a man can dream.
Kick-off at the London Stadium is at 8pm on Saturday night. COYI!