Hammers looking for another smash and grab at the Etihad

West Ham United pulled off a shock win at the Etihad last season, courtesy of goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho. Kevin de Bruyne scored a consolation goal for the hosts, who were not able to get back on level terms despite having 71.5% of the ball and winning the corners battle by 16 to 1.

Barcelona talk has been dominating the headlines in the blue half of Manchester this week, while West Ham fans will have to come to terms with the fact that there will be no more European football at the Olympic Stadium this season, following the Irons shock loss to Romanian side FC Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League..

Goal projections – Man City 2.55 West Ham 0.78

Team news & predicted starting line-ups for Man City v West Ham

Claudio Bravo is not expected to take over in goal until the Manchester derby, so Wily Caballero is favourite to don the gloves again this weekend, with Joe Hart seemingly on his way out of the club following his farewell appearance against Steau.

Pep Guardiola is likely to stick with a 4-1-4-1 and the main selection questions again revolve around the full-back positions.

Man City fantasy player to watch

Nolito scored twice in a 21 minute cameo appearance at the Bet365 Stadium last week. That should be enough to ensure he starts at the Etihad this weekend, at the expense of Jesús Navas.

With Sergio Agüero in fine goal-scoring form and City having a high goals expectancy again this weekend, Nolito looks more than capable of racking up a decent fantasy score.

Man City team news

Pablo Zabaleta is expected to be included again at right-back as Bacary Sagna recovers from a hamstring injury. Gaël Clichy could miss out at left-back unless Guardiola decides to experiment with Aleksandr Kolarov at centre-back again.

Vincent Kompany is still injured, while this game is likely to come too soon for Leroy Sané and İlkay Gündoğan.

Predicted starting line-up for Man City (4-1-4-1)

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West Ham fantasy player to watch

West Ham scored 65 goals last season, a figure that was only bettered by three Premier League clubs. However, no player managed to get into double figures so it’s obvious they are crying out for a clinical finisher.

New arrival Jonathan Calleri could lead the line against City and he looks one to keep an eye on.

West Ham team news

Crashing out of Europe might not be a bad thing for a Hammers side that has been rocked by an early season injury crisis.

Andy Carroll is the latest high-profile player to be side-lined, while Mark Noble, Håvard Nordtveit, Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet are all touch and go for the game at the Etihad.

André Ayew, Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli and Diafra Sakho are all absent again.

Slaven Bilić could set his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation initially but he may mix things up throughout the game, in an attempt to get the better of Guardiola.

Predicted starting line-up for West Ham (4-2-3-1)

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Will West Ham pull off another shock at the Etihad by defeating the Citizens again?