James Wood

Sat 27 February 2021 8:04, UK

West Ham travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to face the runaway league leaders Manchester City. 

The Hammers come into the clash full of confidence having defeated Spurs 2-1 in a London derby last weekend. City have won 19 games in a row in all competitions. If Moyes’ side are to leave with anything, it’ll take a big performance.

When the two sides met in September they shared the spoils. Michail Antonio and Phil Foden scored the only goals in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.

A key battle

One man who stood out that day was West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell. He went toe-to-toe with the Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, and kept him relatively quiet.

Mahrez was unable to really affect the game. He did manage one shot on target, and completed his one attempted cross. He was, however, successful with only 33% of his dribble attempts [WyScout].

This is partially down to Cresswell. The Englishman won a staggering 86% of his defensive duels on the day, as Mahrez struggled to get by him. The full-back made 10 recoveries, whilst City’s number 26 lost the ball 9 times.

There’s been a lot of football played since the two sides last met. City have opened up a 10 point lead at the top of the Premier League – they look unstoppable at the moment.

Mahrez, in particular, has looked back to his best in recent weeks. He was unplayable in their 3-1 win at Goodison Park. After scoring a cracker, he was involved in the build-up for their third goal, playing a perfect first-time pass to Silva.

That evening he completed 82% of his passes, as well as 71% of dribbles and won 65% of his duels. Everton simply couldn’t cope with him.

Meanwhile, for the Hammers, Cresswell has been a creative force in his own right. Our number three has registered eight assists in the league top-flight in 2020/21. That’s more than any other defender in the division, and actually ranks him behind only Kane, Grealish and Fernandes, whilst level with City’s De Bruyne.

Thanks to his creativity, we’ve picked up an extra seven points, one of the reasons we’re currently fourth. He’ll need to be on his best defensively, though, when we face the leaders on Saturday.

He seems to have really benefitted from spending time in the back three, a role that required him to defend more than attack. This season, Cresswell averages 4.72 interceptions and 7.96 recoveries per 90. He also wins 60.3% of his defensive duels.

After a string of bad performances and mistakes under Pellegrini, Cresswell was on thin ice when Moyes returned. But that said, he’s been one of our best players this season. Along with Declan Rice, he’s played every minute of every league game this season for the Hammers, and is vital to our success.

Let’s hope he’s up to the task again on Saturday. He’ll certainly have his hands full.

In other West Ham news, Moyes has committed his future to the club amid Celtic speculation.