After a summer hiatus, the English Premier League is ready to re-emerge from the shadows, and West Ham will welcome Manchester City to the London Stadium on Sunday. Last season, these two sides played out a frenetic draw where West Ham surged into a 2-0 lead before they were pegged back by City, and it was a significant turning point in the title race.
Key points ahead of the game
Clashes between West Ham and City are never short on drama, and here are a few stats about them as we prepare for the latest installment of this celebrated fixture:
- Sunday will represent the 43rd meeting in the EPL between West Ham and Manchester City.
- City is undefeated in their last five EPL encounters with West Ham.
- City is aiming to win the EPL title for the third straight year.
- West Ham finished just outside of the top European spots (seventh) last season and their best-ever EPL finish came in the 1998/99 campaign when they came home in fifth.
As always, the EPL is big business for US online betting sites, and this match will make for compelling viewing. To whet your appetite for this fixture, we have singled out three juicy lines that you could add to your betting slip.
Manchester City to get title defense up and running
As has been the case over the past few seasons, Manchester City remains the benchmark and the yardstick for which their rivals have to meet. Pep Guardiola’s charges may have bid farewell to Raheem Sterling, who joined Chelsea, but they have a highly-vaunted squad that can hurt most teams, and they will there or thereabouts again this season.
Although West Ham has at times appeared to be obdurate opposition, City will have learned a lot from their last encounter, and they will come flying out of the traps. City should win this comfortably and they are currently priced at a rather short -275 with Unibet to wrap up all three points.
Erling Haaland to double up
Despite firing blanks against Liverpool in the recent Community Shield defeat at the King Power Stadium, Erling Haaland won’t need too long to settle and he should take to the EPL like a duck to water. The Norwegian hitman scored goals for fun during his time with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and he is lethal with both feet. He is strong and he is clinical when in front of goal. He’s of the Robert Lewandowski mold, and Guardiola will extract the best out of Haaland.
Props markets always provide value, and Haaland could well get on the scoresheet against the Hammers. The 22-year-old could hit the ground running and pop up with two goals against West Ham, which is available at +350 with BetMGM, and this may be too tempting to overlook.
Another brilliant advert for the English Premier League
West Ham v Manchester City always provides a glut of goals and Sunday should be no different. Indeed, in each of the past three clashes, the two sides have netted 10 goals between them. David Moyes will be aware that City will monopolize possession, and his side will have to keep their shape if they are going to keep City at the bay.
Sometimes, tactics go out the window against City who knows how to slice through the opposition, and they can embarrass teams. This could well be another open affair and a brilliant advert for the EPL. If you are drawn to the Total Goals Over/Under section, then Unibet is serving up an intriguing looking price of -180 for Over 2.5 goals which could be worth following up on.
