Manchester City will be eager to temporarily leapfrog Arsenal to the top of the Premier League table when they welcome West Ham United to the Etihad on Saturday.

The 2025/26 Premier League season resumes on Saturday with Gameweek 17. The action on the day will start with the game between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St. James’ Park before continuing with four simultaneous matches, including Manchester City vs West Ham United at the Etihad.

Manchester City’s excellent run of form continued earlier this week, as they beat Burnley 2-0 to qualify for the EFL Cup semi-finals. That stretched the Citizens’ winning streak to six games, and with four of those victories coming in the Premier League, they have risen to second on the table. Pep Guardiola’s men are only two points behind Arsenal, and a title charge is on the cards.

On the other hand, West Ham United’s brief resurgence has stuttered again, and the Hammers are on a five-match winless streak. While that run includes three stalemates, failure to clinch any victory in over a month has left the East London outfit three points behind 17th-placed Leeds United. So, Nuno Espirito Santo will be eager to see his charges take something from Saturday’s clash.

Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over West Ham United in the corresponding fixture last season, with Erling Haaland scoring a match-winning brace. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has new roster issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Manchester City manager will be bereft of the services of as many as seven first-team players vs West Ham United on Saturday.

Oscar Bobb is the latest absentee after sustaining a hamstring injury in the EFL Cup quarter-final against Brentford earlier this week. The Norwegian attacker has joined John Stones (muscular), Mateo Kovacic (ankle), Rodri (hamstring), and Jeremy Doku (knock) in the treatment room. Meanwhile, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are unavailable due to their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Gianluigi Donnarumma is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Manchester City lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation in front of him vs West Ham United on Saturday. The backline will feature Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, and Nico O’Reilly.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Nico Gonzalez, with Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki being the two central attacking midfielders. Finally, Erling Haaland, our automatic FPL captaincy pick again, will lead the line for Manchester City against West Ham, with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez; Bernardo Silva, Reijnders, Cherki, Foden; Haaland

West Ham United

Like his counterpart in the Manchester City dugout, Nuno Espirito Santo has new issues to worry about ahead of the trip to the Etihad. The West Ham United manager will be without four first-team players on Saturday.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf are unavailable for the next few weeks, as they will participate in the Africa Cup of Nations. Additionally, Lukasz Fabianski (lower back) remains in the treatment room. Meanwhile, Niclas Fullkrug faces a late fitness test to determine his availability.

Alphonse Areola will take his usual spot between the sticks, with West Ham United lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Manchester City on Saturday. The backline will feature Kyle Walker-Peters, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Oliver Scarles.

As for the midfield unit, Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts will pair up in the double pivot, with Lucas Paqueta reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Jarrod Bowen will spearhead the West Ham attack against Manchester City, with Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville completing the numbers in the offensive third.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Areola; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Todibo, Scarles; Magassa, Potts; Summerville, Paqueta, Fernandes; Bowen

Key Stats

• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 19 Premier League games vs West Ham United (W16 D3) since a 2-1 home defeat in September 2015. The Hammers have lost 15 of their 16 most recent Premier League away matches against City, with the exception being a 2-1 victory in September 2015 under Slaven Bilic.
• Manchester City have lost none of their last 46 Premier League home games against teams starting the day in the relegation zone (W42 D4) since a 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in November 2008. They have won their 14 most recent such outings by an aggregate score of 43-7.
• If West Ham United fail to win this match, they are guaranteed to be in the relegation zone at Christmas. It will be the fifth time they have been in the bottom three at Christmas in the Premier League. However, the Hammers have avoided relegation on the two previous occasions they were not at the bottom (18th in 2006/07 and 19th in 2009/10).
• Since the start of April, Manchester City have won the most home games (12) and racked up the most points at home (36) in the Premier League, failing to win just once in that run, a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The Citizens have won all seven at the Etihad since that loss, last winning more successive matches on home soil between January and November 2023 (15 in a row).
• West Ham United have drawn their last three away Premier League matches, taking the lead in two of those before settling for a stalemate. The Hammers have not drawn four successive games on the road since a run between November and January 2000.

Player to Watch

Rayan Cherki

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While Erling Haaland, Jarrod Bowen, and Lucas Paqueta were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Rayan Cherki as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad.

The French international was slow off the blocks at Manchester City after missing several weeks in the early stages of the 2025/26 season due to a hamstring injury. However, Cherki has been on a roll since returning from his layoff, and he has established himself as a pivotal figure for Pep Guardiola.

The 22-year-old has assisted five goals in his last four home Premier League appearances despite playing only 223 minutes in those matches. Cherki has played 282 minutes overall, and among players to play 250+ minutes at a stadium in Premier League history, him providing an assist every 56 minutes at the Etihad is the best ratio. That is one of the reasons the Frenchman is our FPL differential recommendation for Gameweek 17.

Prediction

Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United

West Ham United will be desperate not to still be in the relegation zone on Christmas when they take on Manchester City at the Etihad. However, the task gets no easier this weekend, as they face a team they have struggled to topple in recent outings.

The Citizens have won their last five Premier League games against West Ham, scoring at least three goals each time. Only Arsenal against Sunderland (2002 to 2007) and Manchester United against Nottingham Forest (1996 to 2022) have won six successive matches against an opponent while scoring three or more times on each occasion.

Meanwhile, in his managerial career, Pep Guardiola has faced West Ham more often without ever losing than he has any other opponent (20 – W17 D3). The Catalan tactician will continue that run, and Manchester City will equal Arsenal and Manchester United for the record mentioned earlier. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-0 win for Guardiola and his charges.