City go into Saturday’s lunchtime kick off away to West Ham United hoping to return to form after a poor 2-2 draw against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night knocked their Champions League hopes even further. The Blues left league form in high spirits after their 4-1 win over Tottenham last weekend but now need to regain that momentum at Upton Park. However, that might not be as easy as it sounds.
Almost all City fans will have fond memories of the last time West Ham and City faced off; it was in May this year, on a day when a certain silver cup was lifted. Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany both scored in a 2-0 win that ensured the league title for City after a spectacular fight back in the title race against Liverpool.
That wasn’t the only significant game between the pair last season. The Hammers and The Blues were also drawn against each other in the Capital One Cup semi-finals, a competition City would of course go on to win in March. On aggregate The Blues came off 9-0 winners – due mostly to a 6-0 thrashing in the middle of City’s run where goals were abundant – but the semi-final win was probably fair and in the end a vital two matches in City’s season.
Last term this fixture is largely forgotten, but it holds a lot of significance because it came right in the middle of October, yet was The Blues’ first league away win of the season. It came at the start of a run of four away games that then saw City only lose one (Chelsea away, with that late, late Fernando Torres winner). In this particular game City also showed they could cope with the pressure of being pegged back and at risk of throwing away another away win, and eventually the away form was a key factor in winning the league title in May.
In terms of injuries, City don’t have much to worry about. Frank Lampard (thigh), who got injured in the Spurs game last weekend has an outside chance of facing his old club but might not make it; in that case, he should be back in time for the visit of Manchester United next weekend. Samir Nasri (groin) is also still out but should be back fit in time for the derby.
On a more positive note, Eliaquim Mangala returned from the groin injury he picked up on international duty to play in the CSKA game on Tuesday night and is ready to face West Ham on Saturday.
City’s hosts have a few injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s match, although some players should be returning. Mauro Zarate (knock) is out of the visit of the champions, as are Guy Demel (hip) and Andy Carroll (ankle). However James Tomkins (thigh) and Cheikhou Kouyaté (groin) should both be back in time for the game.
Thanking back a few years to when Avram Grant was still in charge at Upton Park, it would have been hard to imagine West Ham causing the City side boosted by foreign investment a huge amount of trouble. Indeed, The Blues haven’t lost to West Ham for five-and-a-half years. However the games are getting harder as The Hammers improve under Sam Allardyce. Some of the players playing for them now are very good, and they’ve managed to sneak up to fourth in the Premier League without many people really noticing it – above Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham.
Saturday won’t be a walk in the park by any means of the word. West Ham might have some injury problems and on paper we have a much better squad. We should be returning from London on Saturday afternoon with all three points, continuing to put pressure on Chelsea who face United on Sunday. However it won’t be that easy, and if we’re complacent it could easily come back to bite us.
Now you’ve read our preview, have a read of the view from the opposition camp. @ExWHUemployee wrote this week’s Opposition View, talking about some of the players to have played for both clubs and how West Ham have improved since we last played them in May.
