Although they will face a stiff challenge in London, Manchester City knows that a victory over West Ham this afternoon will maintain them atop the Premier League for another week.
After having back surgery last month, Pep Guardiola is back on the sidelines and will try to keep his team’s perfect record intact. The home team has only lost two points in their first four games and is also unbeaten.
Chelsea and Brighton have already suffered losses at the hands of the Hammers, who will look to capitalize on City’s multiple injuries. Jack Grealish, John Stones, and Kevin De Bruyne continue to be injured, while Mateo Kovacic missed both of Croatia’s international matches over the break.
Following his deadline-day transfer from Wolves, Matheus Nunes might make his debut, and fellow summer acquisition Jeremy Doku will make his second consecutive start after providing an assist for Belgium earlier this week.
Guardiola says Julian Alvarez is ‘nearly undroppable’
After two assists against West Ham, Pep Guardiola claimed Julian Alvarez is now practically untouchable for the Manchester City squad.
Alvarez’s tough assignment is to compete with City’s prolific goal-scorer Erling Haaland for the position of primary striker, and despite his first season with the team seeing plenty of action, he was unable to unseat the record-breaking No. 9.
However, the Argentine has been fully utilizing the chance to find another route into the team that injuries and departures have created.
Before West Ham, Guardiola told Doku
Even Pep Guardiola acknowledged he didn’t anticipate Jeremy Doku, a recent purchase, to perform as brilliantly as he did at West Ham.
The 21-year-old winger was purchased by Manchester City from Rennes for £55.5 million this summer, but assistant Juanma Lillo advised against placing too much pressure on him too soon. He could only display hints of his talent against Fulham.
On his second outing, though, he terrorized West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal and scored the crucial equalizer in a 3-1 victory for the Blues, demonstrating his ability to swiftly impact games.
