West Ham United-Manchester City Preview
As the distractions continue to mount for Manchester City, so do the losses.
Their chances of repeating as champions all but mathematically extinguished, City look to regroup Sunday at the Etihad versus a West Ham United squad trying to secure a top-half finish.
Manchester City (18-7-7) still have a margin of error as they hold the fourth and final Champions League spot, enjoying a four-point advantage over Liverpool with six matches remaining. But they were denied a chance to strengthen that hold as their arch-rivals Manchester United administered a 4-2 thrashing at Old Trafford last Sunday, as Sergio Aguero's brace bracketed four goals by the Red Devils.
The second straight defeat has left Manuel Pellegrini again fending off questions regarding his future, as the rumour mill over a potential successor has churned faster. That has also started talk of which players will stay and which will move on from Manchester City, and James Milner knows the only way all of the talk is silenced is by winning.
"After last weekend, we just want to get back on the field and get some points on the board, really," he told City's official website. "It would be nice to win 5-0 and play amazing football against West Ham, but the most important thing is to win the game and get back to winning ways and to try and get a feel-good factor back around the place again."
If there is one place City can perhaps feel good about themselves, it is in defence - Joe Hart carries a 315-minute shutout streak at home into this match and has posted three consecutive clean sheets at the Etihad. City have claimed 33 points from their 15 home matches and their 31 goals at home are third-most in the top flight.
West Ham (11-10-11) are seeking their first Premier League double over City after winning the reverse fixture 2-1 in late October, holding off a late charge after Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho scored in each half for the Hammers. Sam Allardyce's side are ninth in the table, ahead of Stoke City on goal differential and have already secured a spot in the top flight for next season.
Still, the Hammers' form since the turn of the calendar year has left much to be desired - they've won just twice in 13 matches (2-6-5), and have only scored more than one goal on just two occasions in that span. They settled for a 1-1 draw at home versus Stoke on April 11, conceding a goal to Marko Arnautovic deep into stoppage time.
"Sometimes, especially lately, we haven't been concentrating fully and in the last 10 minutes we've been conceding unnecessary amounts of points, which is extremely disappointing," centre-back Winston Reid told the club's official website after the team allowed a goal in second-half stoppage time for the fourth time. "From the outside, people might think that we're already on holiday, but we've tried to maintain the effort on the training pitch and in games."
West Ham are winless in six on the road (0-2-4) across all competitions and also have a poor track record at Manchester City in the top flight with one victory in 13 matches (1-2-10). City have won six on the trot in all competitions over Hammers, outscoring them 18-3 on aggregate.