Manchester City start their title defence for the second season in a row against a tricky opponent in West Ham at London Stadium
City crowned themselves the champions for the sixth time in dramatic fashion last season while West Ham failed to get their desired spot for Europa League football instead settling for the Conference League
WHU vs MCI Match Details
Date: Sunday, 7th August 2022
Time: 16:30 (BST) / 21:00 (IST)
Venue: London Stadium, London
WHU vs MCI Match Preview
It was not the end to the season West Ham would have desired. The Hammers only managed a place in the conference league failing to overtake Manchester United on the last day of the season for the targeted fifth spot on the table with their Europa League run also ending unconvincingly in the semi-final stage. The 2021/22 season was hectic, to say the least, to balance both European football and the Premier League more intense than ever. Manager David Moyes will be willing to continue their top-notch work till now by fighting for the top six again knowing the contenders for the same have splashed big money in the transfer market. West Ham have not been an exception in this case as proven by their $36.6 million spending on Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo, $35 million on defender Nayef Aguerd from Rennes and Maxwel Cornet making a $21 million move from Burnley aside from the permanent transfer of Alphonso Areola from PSG. Moyes said there is still spending needed to be done before the window closes with Filip Kostic of Frankfurt and Amadou Onana from Lille linked but should be satisfied with the quality that has been added to the squad. Also, West Ham have kept hold of two of their best performers in Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen marking this summer business a successful one. The preseason has been a busy one for the Hammers as they have played a total of seven games from last season mostly dividing the squad into two teams to get everyone ready for the season. The results are not the one wished for with no wins in the last five preseason matches although they lost only once. Their start to the new season couldn’t be tougher with the champions knocking on their door. Moyes will draw inspiration from the last meeting in this encounter which delayed the City’s title celebration to the final day of the season. West Ham lost disappointingly to Brighton on the same day so they need to acquire mentality to get them over the edge in the new season.
The Community Shield defeat to Liverpool cannot be an indication of Manchester City plummeting from their dominance in the league knowing the same happened a year to Leicester and City went on to clinch their sixth title with four in five seasons. It was not a cruising affair this time though as Liverpool almost had them by their neck on the final day of the season. Down 2-0 to Aston Villa on the final day of the season with just ten minutes and Liverpool threatening to take the lead locked in 1-1 score line against Wolves, substitute Ikay Gundogan scored a memorable brace on either side of a Rodri screamer to clinch the title in a stunning comeback. The Reds won their game but finished a point behind the Citizens similarly in the 2018/19 season. City ended with 93 points registering 29 wins and drawing two fewer games than Liverpool to make all the difference though losing a game more. Their 99 goals tally was the best in the league and fascinating to know they did with no strikers in the team at that time. They now have one. City pulled off the best deal in this transfer window by securing the service of one of the best strikers around, Erling Braut Haaland from Borussia Dortmund a mammoth fee of $103 million having triggered his release clause. The Norwegian is joined by Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United, backup keeper Stefan Ortega from Bielefeld and a future star in Julian Alvarez who announced himself with a goal in the Community Shield last weekend. The club also let go of the three important stars of their title success in Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling. Long-serving player Fernandinho also returned back to Brazil. Overall, this has been a busy summer with the team going through changes but the core of their title success squad remaining. Preseason has been rather short for City with only three games played adding the Shield loss into the equation so it will be interesting the start of their title defence against West Ham. With the World Cup happening in midseason this time, Pep Guardiola knows he needs to prepare his side to their brilliant best again in order to seal another title win.
Pre-season Form
WHU: DDLD
MCI: LWW
WHU vs MCI Team News
The Hammers will not have star striker Gianluca Scammaca, their big money purchase from Sassuolo available for the game for his lack of match fitness. Even if manager David Moyes includes him, the Italian won’t be starting on the opening weekend. First summer signing, Nayef Aguerd is not in contention for the game for sustaining an ankle injury. Signed from Burnley only a day ago, Maxwel Cornet is not in time to feature in the game. Defender Angelo Ogbonna is recovering well from a long-term knee injury but he is out too. His partner Issa Diop is a major doubt with a ligament injury.
City have a major injury absentee in the form of Aymeric Laporte who is out for at least a month because of a Medial Collateral Ligament injury. England international John Stones is also lacking match fitness so Nathan Ake should slot alongside Ruben Dias in the center of defence. Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland will make his Premier League debut following his headlining move to Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden flanking him. Boss Pep Guardiola has not made any clarity on Bernardo Silva’s future amid repeated interest from Barcelona nevertheless the Portuguese midfielder will start the season opener against West Ham.
WHU vs MCI Predicted lineups
WHU: Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Craig Dawson, Aaron Cresswell; Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek; Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma; Michail Antonio
MCI: Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden
WHU vs MCI Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Ederson (8.5)
DEF: Cancelo (9), Dawson (8.5), Dias (8.5), Cresswell (9)
MID: De Bruyne (10), Rodri (8.5), Rice (9)
FW: Bowen (10), Haaland (10), Foden (8.5)
Captain: Erling Haaland
Vice-captain: Kevin De Bruyne
