By all accounts, Manchester City really does look like the team to beat this season in the Barclays Premier League. The club has six points from two matches in relatively flawless fashion, and Pep Guardiola is still moving the parts around to get this team exactly where he wants it before the serious matches start in the Championship Game. Sunday's soiree with West Ham should end up being another de facto romp at the Ethiad.
This Barclays Premier League duel will go down Sunday, August 28, 2016, at 11 a.m. ET at Ethiad Stadium. The match will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Manchester City -310
West Ham +900
Draw +450
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
Already, we're starting to see the effect of Guardiola at the Ethiad. The Citizens would have been favored last year in this match as well, but the margin certainly wouldn't have been anything near the -310 that we have on the board this Sunday. Man City is laying a goal and a half on the Asian Handicap, and this comes against a team hoping to legitimately have a shot at the Champions League next season.
The total of 3 with -135 vig on the over is a good indication that this should be an up and down affair for both sides.
Key Injuries
It's really less about the injuries for Manchester City and more about the fact that there are men who are on their way out for sure. Yaya Toure and Joe Hart are fit, but neither one is going to end up being in the Starting XI in this match for sure and are on their way out of town. Claudio Bravo is on his way to Manchester, but the question remains whether his transfer will be complete by the weekend to decide if he will make his debut in this match against the Hammers or not.
Vincent Kompany, Leroy Sane and Bacary Sagna are all out of the fold with various knocks.
West Ham has some real issues right now on the injury front. Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli and Diafra Sakho are all certainly not playing this weekend, and Dimitri Payet missed out on last week's match with Bournemouth and certainly will have a late fitness test for this match as well.
Recent Form
It's already been a grueling season for the Hammers to get through Europa League qualification, and another match awaits this week with FK Astra Giu just to get into the group stage of the competition. Odds have it, they'll take care of business and move on, but it's another fixture in the middle of the week that will have to be taken seriously.
West Ham has acquitted itself respectfully thus far in 2015-16 in English play. The team was beaten by Chelsea 2-1 in a match that could have bared some fruit, and though a 1-0 win over Bournemouth last week wasn't the most impressive showing in the world, three points are three points.
Manchester City has outdone Sunderland and Stoke City by a combined 6-2 margin, and for good measure, it finished off Steaua Bucharest in the UCL playoff by a 6-0 aggregate over the two legs of play to get into the group stage of the competition.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
We can't wait to see what this Man City team is going to look like come October or November. The team is already stacked, and it's only going to get better from here with arguably the best manager in the world on its side.
West Ham has shown well, but without all of the major players in the fold and with Slaven Bilic admitting that he's struggling just putting 11 guys on the pitch every week of BPL quality, we can't see how this match ends well. It's tough to lay that much lumber, but it feels like a necessity.
Barclays Premier League Odds: Manchester City 2, West Ham 0
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