Manchester City host West Ham in the Premier League, looking to record three points as they chase title rivals Liverpool. Pep Guardiola's side were in dreamland at Wembley just three days ago as they lifted the Carabao Cup, but there is a quick turnaround to the Premier League clash with Manuel Pellegrini's Hammers. The Spaniard is without John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus, who are all injured, and he also took the opportunity to rest Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker. In came Vincent Kompany, Danilo, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez. Benjamin Mendy and Phil Foden were named on the bench, while West Ham named former City man Samir Nasri in their squad. City are currently 1-0 up thanks to a Sergio Aguero penalty in the second half. City team to face West Ham: Ederson; Danilo, Kompany (C), Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva; Mahrez, Sane, Aguero. City subs: Muric, Walker, Sterling, Bernardo, Mendy, Sandler, Foden. Follow us for live coverage from tonight's game.<doc-sep>Get the biggest City stories, analysis and transfer updates delivered straight to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice No room for error It would not be right to say that Manchester City are down to the bare bones for this Premier League clash but Pep Guardiola has significantly fewer options than he did 10 days ago. Unless there is a tactical selection surprise, at least Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Aguero will know they cannot afford any rash moments because there are no tested replacements to come in for them. The removal of Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho severely weakens the spine of the team, so as much as the manager is trying to put the squeeze on Liverpool he will also be relieved to come through this game without any more of his plans being hampered. West Ham form West Ham have picked up some big results against the best teams this season, beating Arsenal and United and taking points off Liverpool and Chelsea. Those have all come at the London Stadium though; on the road, things have been less impressive and their away games in 2019 have seen defeats at Bournemouth, AFC Wimbledon and Wolves and a draw at Crystal Palace. City, meanwhile, have bounced back from a shock defeat at Crystal Palace before Christmas to record seven straight wins at the Etihad in all competitions. If Manuel Pellegrini's side shouldn't be underestimated, both teams will have to break from their norm to cause another shock. Aguero gets chance for another record Sergio Aguero harried his way through 120 minutes at Wembley before stepping up and planting a weak penalty through the hands of Kepa. West Ham would normally be a game for Gabriel Jesus to step in for but the Brazilian's continued absence through injury means that the club record striker will have little chance but to play on. That does give him the chance of another record though. After trebles against Arsenal and Chelsea, he will become the first player in Premier League history to score three consecutive hat-tricks at home should he repeat his amazing achievements in recent games. City returns Manuel Pellegrini returns to the Etihad for the first time since his underwhelming farewell back in 2016, while Samir Nasri could also feature. Asked what ovation the manager could expect, Guardiola replied: “The reaction he deserves, I’m pretty sure it will be high, he did an inceredible job, the league he won, the way he played. It was a good team. I have a lot of respect for the people who played and managed here and especially Manuel, he’s an excellent person, polite and shows respect." Guaranteed to get a better reception than both of them will be Pablo Zabaleta, who remains a firm favourite.<doc-sep>Sports Mole previews Wednesday night's Premier League clash between champions Manchester City and West Ham United, including predictions, teams news and lineups. Fresh from winning the EFL Cup at Wembley on Sunday, Manchester City will turn their attention back to their Premier League title tilt when they welcome West Ham United to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening. The champions were knocked off top spot while collecting their first piece of silverware this season and take on one of their former title-winning managers here as Manuel Pellegrini returns to the Etihad. Man City © Reuters Leg one of a potential quadruple has been completed, making the 'impossible' task that bit more achievable for Pep Guardiola's side. Not that you would have thought it from the City manager's demeanour. In the post-match press conference he spoke in a far more deflated tone than his beaten Chelsea counterpart Maurizio Sarri and, while he insisted he was happy, his grumbles about injuries and the fixture schedule suggested that success in the EFL Cup came at a cost he was not entirely pleased with. Of course, that could also be construed as a clear message to his players that he is not satisfied with just EFL Cup glory, and only three days after going the distance with extra time and penalties at Wembley, City must refocus back onto the Premier League for the first time since February 10. The deficit to leaders Liverpool has been cut from seven points to one in recent weeks, but the champions are still reliant on Jurgen Klopp's side dropping points over the final 11 games of the season if they are to retain the title. Three of the past five winners of the EFL Cup have gone on to lift the Premier League too - including City under both managers that will be in the dugouts on Wednesday - and while Guardiola insisted that Liverpool are still favourites, the momentum appears to be behind the defending champions. Including Sunday's shootout win over Chelsea at Wembley, City have now won each of their last six games and 14 of their last 15 across all competitions, whereas Liverpool have drawn four of their last five and have only won three of their nine outings so far in 2019. Guardiola's concerns over his growing injury list are not without merit, though, and while his squad depth is the envy of almost every other manager in world football, the one player he arguably could not afford to lose was Fernandinho, who is expected to miss at least four games. Fernandinho's last spell of enforced absence saw City slump to back-to-back defeats at the hands of Crystal Palace and Leicester City, so the prospect of him missing matches in the title run-in and the Champions League will not be a welcome one for the champions. Even so, City will be overwhelming favourites to win again on Wednesday night having emerged victorious from all seven of their home games so far this calendar year, scoring a whopping 35 goals and conceding just twice in the process. Recent Premier League form: WWLWWW Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWW West Ham © Reuters Pellegrini knows exactly the impact a League Cup triumph can have on a team in the title race, but that is something he is now tasked with stopping on Wednesday night. The Hammers are currently in a battle to record just their second top-half finish in the past six seasons, with Friday night's 3-1 win over Fulham leaving them in ninth place. Pellegrini will very much be looking up the table rather than down it right now, and qualification for Europe next season remains a distinct possibility with only four points separating them from seventh. Such a finish would equal their highest position since 1998-99, and with their next four games after Wednesday coming against teams in the bottom half, that is a target they can really push for over the next month. Victory over Fulham last time out ended a five-match winless streak for the Hammers across all competitions, and should they spring a major shock at the Etihad then it would be back-to-back league wins for the first time since December 15. West Ham's record against City in recent times has been poor, but they have already taken points off Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal this season, so have proved that they can mix it with the big boys when on form. Doing the same at the Etihad is a long shot, though, particularly considering West Ham's poor recent away record. Pellegrini's side have won none and lost four of their last five matches on the road, failing to even score in three of those. It is an issue they will need to solve if they are to achieve their goal of seventh place, but that will take a few more upsets along the way with five of their remaining six away league games coming against teams above them in the table - including four of the top six. West Ham have not beaten one of that top six away from home in the league since August 2015, and not too many people will be expecting them to end that run and add another twist to the title race on Wednesday. Recent Premier League form: WLLDDW Recent form (all competitions): LLLDDW Team News © Reuters The EFL Cup final injuries to Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte mean that Guardiola's hopes for rotation so soon after a 120-minute match are a little more limited. Ilkay Gundogan is expected to replace Fernandinho in the holding role, while fit-again captain Vincent Kompany could replace Laporte at the back if John Stones fails to recover from a groin injury. Gabriel Jesus, Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph join Stones in being doubts for the match, which means that Guardiola could be forced to play the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva from the start again. There are more options to rest players elsewhere, though, and both Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez will be hoping for recalls.<doc-sep>Hello and welcome to the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City host West Ham in the Premier League this evening. The Hammers are unbeaten in three league games, including a reputable point against Liverpool at home. City last lost against Newcastle at the end of January, and have since won five matches in all competitions, plus their draw and penalty win against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. Manhester City vs West Ham - Premier League Venue: Etihad Stadium Date: Wednesday February 27 Kick-off time: 8.00pm (GMT) Previous meeting: West Ham 0-4 Man City, Premier League, November 24 2018. West Ham team news Manchester City team news What TV channel is Man City vs West Ham on? Man City vs West Ham will not be broadcast live on TV but you can join football.london for full coverage of the game from the Etihad Stadium, including live blog commentary. Live stream information Man City vs West Ham will not be available to watch by live stream, but full coverage of the game will be available on football.london from the Etihad Stadium, including team news, live blog commentary and player ratings. Keep up to date with the latest news, features and exclusives from football.london via the free football.london app for iPhone and Android . Available to download from the App Store and Google Play .<doc-sep>
Selection gamble understandable A recent study found that nobody at Manchester City had played more Premier League minutes than Kyle Walker this season, although John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling had run him close. Pep Guardiola bemoaned recent injuries to Stones and Gabriel Jesus as an almost-inevitable consequence of a punishing schedule that has been relentless pretty much from the first day but especially since November when there was no respite given by international fixtures. A few days later, the manager was cursing his luck once more as Laporte and Fernandinho limped out of the cup final against Chelsea with muscle injuries; neither are expected to feature in the next five games. With that in mind, it was entirely sensible that Bernardo, Sterling and Walker were left on the bench for the home game against West Ham. All three pushed themselves through 120 minutes at the weekend and have also had little to no rest since their busy summer with the England stars going the distance in the World Cup and Bernardo going almost straight from the last-16 to City's pre-season tour in the United States. They remain key to City's hopes of silverware, but Bournemouth away looks a more difficult test on paper than this home fixture. City's wingplay disappears The first half disintegrated into a Groundhog situation whereby one of Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez passed the ball too far in front of the other one and then threw their arms in the air in annoyance. It didn't matter what they tried, the end result was always the same. If it is a concern that the two appear to be as far from each other's wavelength as is possible, it was odd that once the problem became evident more play did not go down the left. Leroy Sane and David Silva struck up a formidable combination last year and for the first half of this season but with the Spaniard short of form for some time, they too lacked a cutting edge. (Image: Getty Images) At the London Stadium in November, it was balls from out wide that cut West Ham to ribbons. The opportunity was there again, only for the quality to let the Blues down. The fact both Sane and Mahrez were hooked before the hour-mark signalled what Guardiola thought of their display. Settled defence This was the third successive clean sheet for City and they have conceded just one goal from games with Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea and West Ham - despite having different personnel at the back for each game. Having struggled to keep goals out for what felt like a long spell in the second quarter of the season, Guardiola's side appear to have clicked again at the back and West Ham posed little danger.