West Ham United Manchester City
team_logoM. Lanzini #10 team_logoRodri Hernández #16
team_logoŁ. Fabiański #1 team_logoEderson Moraes #31
team_logoR. Fredericks #24 team_logoJ. Stones #5
team_logoF. Balbuena #4 team_logoA. Laporte #14
team_logoI. Diop #23 team_logoO. Zinchenko #11
team_logoM. Antonio #30 team_logoK. De Bruyne #17
team_logoA. Cresswell #3 team_logoR. Mahrez #26
team_logoD. Rice #41 team_logoGabriel Jesus #9
team_logoFelipe Anderson #8 team_logoK. Walker #2
team_logoS. Haller #22 team_logoDavid Silva #21
team_logoJ. Wilshere #19 team_logoR. Sterling #7

At the opening round, West Ham United will play in their field against the current champions of Premier League Manchester City. This confrontation must be interesting for several reasons. Firstly, this is the 1st round, therefore, something unexpected can happen, because the teams are not yet 100% ready. Secondly, Manuel Pellegrini was the coach of Manchester City for 3 years previously, and he knows the club very well, however, many things changed in the squad and tactics. All in all, West Ham United vs Manchester City will be a very interesting game at the London Stadium. Read our thoughts about this match here below.

 

West Ham United

West Ham United finished last season at the 10th place in Premier League. They were only 5 points away from Wolves. With Manuel Pellegrini, their game started to be more confident, strong and attacking. At London Stadium their form was a lot better than at road games, as they lost only 6 games mostly to English Grands. In general, the team began to play better and show results. We believe that Manuel will achieve better and better results for this iconic club every season. For now, The Irons won 3 last Premier League matches.

During the summer transfer window, Arnautovic left the club, what should strongly impact the attacking game. He was an absolute leader and a very dangerous player for almost every opponent. Moreover, Pedro Obiang left to Sassuolo. However, The Hammers made a great replacement for these players and signed Sebastian Haller and Pablo Fornals to exact positions. Both of them should be ready to play first Premier League games of the season and prove their values.

 

Manchester City

Manchester City become champions of Premier League last season. This season they started from lifting the Community Shield trophy. The team started the game very confidently by scoring an early goal, however, the second half was fully controlled by Liverpool. At 77th minute J. Matip scored a goal and equalized the chances of winning the match. However, in a penalty shootout, Manchester City was more accurate and finished the game without any misses, while G. Wijnaldum missed his shoot.

They showed very strong character by competing with Liverpool and finally finished 1st in this race. They decided to concentrate on English League and Cups last year, so this time they obviously targetting UEFA Champions League. Of course, Manchester City, led by Pep, can achieve tremendous results. For three years, Guardiola has already done a lot for the club. Most important that he brings trophies and excellent team spirit. For now, Citizens won 14 last Premier League matches.

Unfortunately, David Silva confirmed he will leave Sky Blues at the end of this season after 10 years. Moreover, Vincent Kompany left the club for playing coach position in Anderlecht. In general, the club made far fewer changes in the line-up this summer than in previous years. Biggest signing were Rodri from Atletico Madrid for €70m . Rodri should take the leading box to box position and change weak form showing Fernandinho. All players came back to training and should be ready to face the first regular-season opponent.

 

Article image is taken from https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/2017/1/5/14183668/west-ham-united-manchester-city-2017-fa-cup-team-news-lineups-goals-live-stream-updates