Paul Merson predicts West Ham United vs Manchester City result with Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen ‘showing their class’
Paul Merson has predicted West Ham to fall to a tight 2-1 defeat by Manchester City at the London Stadium despite both teams coming in “flying”.
The Sky Sports pundit said in his Sportskeeda predictions (14 September) that he doesn’t see how the treble-winners can’t win at the moment although he does feel this clash “suits West Ham”.
With Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen singled out as “showing their class” so far this season the Hammers have a chance but Merson has gone for a 2-1 City win.
Merson said: “Both teams are flying at the moment, but I still look at this one and think ‘How will Manchester City not win?’ because the standard they’ve set over the years in the Premier League is just outstanding.
“That said, this game suits West Ham, as they have a lot of counter-attacking threat. As they showed against Chelsea, they have the ammunition to hurt you, with Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen showing their class in front of goal.
“This won’t be an easy game, but I fancy Manchester City to get all three points to continue their perfect start to the new campaign.
“As for the Premier League title, I think only Arsenal and Liverpool have a chance of competing with the Cityzens. Newcastle have already dropped too many points and could even run the risk of missing out on a place in the top four if their early season struggles continue.”
Door open
West Ham are surely as likely to get a positive result against Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut now as they are at any time given the form they’ve started the season in.
A first defeat shouldn’t be a disaster when City have made a 100% start off the back of winning the treble, but it is certainly not a game where the Irons haven’t got a hope of winning.
In different matches so far David Moyes’ side have ridden their luck or been dominant but they have picked up 10 points out of 12 to show a major improvement from last season’s dismal Premier League campaign.
And with Mohammed Kudus still to slot into the team in a meaningful way the strength of the side should be set to increase further.
Lucas Paqueta will surely be eager to show Guardiola what he is missing after a mooted £80million-plus move in the summer fell apart, and potentially to prove he is worth the same interest in future.
A positive result here would be a statement after the fast start that this West Ham side is different from the one that underachieved for long periods last term and the team is certainly in the right form to get it.
In other West Ham news, a double injury boost has emerged from Rush Green after the international break as men were spotted alongside Jesse Lingard live on Sky Sports.