Manchester City vs West Ham United 17/07/19

17 July 2019

Manchester City will kick off their pre-season with a friendly clash with West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium, as the two sides battle it out for the Premier League Asia Trophy final.

Manchester City won this biennial pre-season friendly tournament back in 2014, but have not participated in it ever since. The Citizens have enjoyed a remarkable 2018-19 Premier League campaign, securing their second successive league title in front of Liverpool’s noses. Also, they have swept Watford aside with a commanding 6-0 win in the FA Cup final, which was their last match of the season. Pep Guardiola’s men are on an eight-game winning streak across all competitions, with five of those victories seeing them beat their rivals to nil. Also, three of those wins have ended with the same 1-0 scoreline, while City netted three or more goals four times during the run.

Meanwhile, West Ham will be desperate to bring a disastrous eight-game losing streak against Man City to an end and possibly score over 1.5 match goals against the Citizens for the first time since 2016. The Hammers’ sudden rise in the closing stage of last season has seen them go from three consecutive defeats to four straight games without a loss (W3, D1). Manuel Pellegrini has overseen his team’s run of good form stretching to the first summer friendly against Altach, as West Ham secured a 3-2 win over the Austrian outfit. Five of the Irons’ last six games have produced over 2.5 goals while four of them witnessed goals at both ends.