- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Execution on the Counter Key to West Ham Beating Pep’s Manchester City
- Updated: August 26, 2016
On Sunday, two Premier League sides with very different mindsets will do battle.
Manchester City, who have won four from four under new manager Pep Guardiola, come up against West Ham, who have been distinctly up-and-down so far in 2016-17.
Like last season, the Hammers have had to make an early start to competitive football, contesting a UEFA Europa League match as early as July. On Thursday night, though, any progress made was thrown away, as a loss to Astra Giurgiu sent them tumbling from the competition.
City have had to endure midweek European qualifiers, too, but made light work of Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League equivalent over two legs and rested a number of key men ahead of the weekend.
Out of Europe and with only a poor loss to Chelsea and a scrappy win over AFC Bournemouth under their belts, now is the perfect time for West Ham to refocus and make a statement victory. If it comes over Guardiola’s City, well…that’s about as big a statement as you can make.
Manchester City
Predicting the XI Guardiola uses is an exceptionally difficult exercise, but there are players he is trying to bed in and force into form, so certain names are almost guaranteed to appear.
Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi all sat out Wednesday’s win over Steaua and are all expected to come back into the team. Of the players who did play in midweek, John Stones, Aleksandar Kolarov and one of Jesus Navas or Nolito will likely take to the pitch again.
The big question for Guardiola is whether or not to start Claudio Bravo, his shiny new goalkeeping prize acquired from Barcelona. Not only is he a superior goalkeeper (in a traditional sense) to both Willy Caballero and Joe Hart, but he’s also far better as a possession recycler—hence the purchase. But will it be too soon? Will Caballero fill in for now?
West Ham
West Ham’s beginning to the season has been predictably tumultuous, but Thursday’s European knockout should bring a much-needed sense of tunnel vision to their season: Their focus is now on domestic matters, and only …
continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com
