West Ham vs Manchester City: Betting tips and analysis

West Ham got themselves up-and-running with their first victory under new manager Julien Lopetegui on matchday two. It's a good job they're not facing a side this weekend who have netted 11 goals against them in their last four meetings, aye? Ah.

Odds Now's Brad Walker runs you through all of the key details ahead of the Hammers' meeting with reigning champions Manchester City at the London Stadium. 

Tale of the tape

West Ham

A 2-0 win at Crystal Palace last weekend saw West Ham claim their first three points under new boss Julien Lopetegui. Just as well, too, when you look at the side they're up against this weekend. 

Goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen helped them finally secure victory over a fellow London side after losing their last three prior to kick-off at Selhurst Park. 

One area Lopetegui will be targeting to improve is their form at the London Stadium. The Hammers have picked up just two wins in their last 10 Premier League matches on their own turf and most recently suffered a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at the venue on the opening weekend.

Having a fully fit squad to choose from will provide a boost heading into kick-off on Saturday, though.

Jarrod Bowen celebrates his goal against Crystal Palace last weekend. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

Manchester City

For a side who are supposedly not at their best until after Christmas, this City team already look like they're going to take some stopping. A 2-0 win at Chelsea on the opening weekend was followed by a 4-1 romp at home to Ipswich on Saturday, making it a perfect start for Pep Guardiola's men.

Just to make things interesting for us, and perhaps them, City did allow themselves to momentarily fall a goal behind against Kieran McKenna's side at the Etihad. Sammie Szmodics strike sent the Ipswich fans into raptures, only for the reigning champions to ever-so-cruelly put their foot down and score three times in the following nine minutes.

City have hardly broke stride in their opening two matches, yet have still taken maximum points heading into matchday three. Frighteningly, midfield maestro Rodri hasn't featured but could be set for a return this weekend after injury. Last year's Player of the Season Phil Foden may also be back after missing the Ipswich match with a virus.

A well-rested Erling Haaland has also hit the ground running, netting four times across the opening two weeks of the campaign. This all bodes well, doesn't it Hammers fans? 

West Ham vs Manchester City: Betting tips and predictions

I briefly touched upon West Ham's patchy home record above. If you think that makes for difficult reading, wait until you see their recent form against Saturday's opponents, regardless of the venue.

Not only have the East Londoners lost 14 of their last 17 Premier League meetings with City, they've also not beaten them since a 2-1 away victory at the Etihad in September 2015. You have to go back even further to find their last home win against the Citizens, which came in October 2014 by a 2-1 margin. For context, that victory occurred at the Boleyn Ground - West Ham have not secured a league win against City since moving into the London Stadium.

The champions tend to pickup the three points in style against the Hammers, too. They've scored two or more goals in nine of their last 10 league meetings, scoring three or more in four of those games. 

To be fair to the Hammers, City's goal-scoring prowess isn't exclusive to their encounters with the boys in claret and blue. No side scored more than the 96 goals netted by Pep Guardiola's men last season. Overall, City averaged 2.53 goals scored per game en route to securing a record fourth consecutive Premier League crown and bagged three or more goals in a stunning 50% of league matches in 2023-24. 

I'm sure you already have an idea of where I'm going with this. I've got a feeling the Hammers could get, well, hammered this weekend.

My intuition stems less from what we've seen from West Ham and more from what we know about this ruthless City side. They've already got six league goals to their name and are preparing to welcome the world's best player in Rodri and last season's Player of the Year in Phil Foden back into the fray. Add in the form of Erling Haaland and the writing could already be on the wall.  

Odds Now’s best bets for West Ham vs Manchester City

Manchester City to score 2.5+ goals @ 6/5 (General)