Manchester City, who are the table toppers, travel to the London Stadium to take on seventh-placed West Ham United on Sunday the 15th of May 2022 in the Premier League. The previous meeting saw the Cityzens triumph 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium back in November 2021. Coming into this game, West Ham brushed aside Norwich 4-0 at Carrow Road, and Manchester City thrashed Wolves 5-1 at the Molineux.
West Ham United come into this clash having beaten already-relegated Norwich City 4-0 away from home. Said Benrahma scored twice, while Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini netted once each. This result leaves the Hammers with a record of 16 wins, seven draws and 13 losses and a goal difference of +11. The Hammers are one of the better performing teams at the back this season as per xGA. The metric predicted West Ham to allow 57 goals so far this season, but in reality, they have let in only 46 goals.
West Ham United’s most successful threat creator this season has been Aaron Cresswell, from both open play as well as from set-pieces. The Hammers also have a whole host of other threat creators, including Jarrod Bowen, Vladimir Coufal and Pablo Fornals. Jarrod Bowen is the leading assist maker for the Hammers this season, with 10 to his name.
Given in the above visual is the shot map of West Ham United in this Premier League season, excluding the penalties. Jarrod Bowen is the team’s leading goalscorer, with 10 goals to his name. Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini have five or more goals each to their name. West Ham have missed quite a few big chances that had an xG value of 0.4 or greater. These missed chances may have cost the Hammers a few wins or draws over the course of the season.
Manchester City head into this fixture having thumped Wolves 5-1 away from home. Kevin de Bruyne scored four times, and Raheem Sterling netted the other goal. The Cityzens now have a three-point gap at the top of the table over Liverpool, and their record stands at 28 wins, five draws and three losses with a goal difference of +72 – the highest not only in the Premier League but also in the top five European Leagues. Manchester City have taken 240 shots on target in 36 games this campaign in the Premier League, averaging 6.66 shots on target per match.
Above are the performances of Manchester City in this season’s Premier League relative to the rest of the league. City rank second in xG per game, behind Liverpool. But thanks to five goals in back-to-back games, the Cityzens have netted the most goals in the league. They rank first in shots per game, dribbles per game, passes into the final third per game, to name a few.
Manchester City will hope to put clear daylight between themselves and Liverpool with a win in this game. However, should West Ham United win this contest, it will give Liverpool a chance to claw back the three-point gap. Not only that, the Hammers will surpass Manchester United on the points table, should they win.
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