Manchester City face their most important and possibly most difficult task of the season as they welcome West Ham to the Etihad Stadium. Victory for the Blues will see the Premier League title remain in Manchester, while a draw or defeat will open the door for Arsenal to snatch the title away.

While West Ham will finish the season in 9th position, the Blues will need to guard against complacency when they take to the pitch on Sunday afternoon. Memories of Aston Villa taking a 2-0 lead at the Etihad two years ago will be fresh in the minds, despite City coming back to win the match in style. But the faithful will be hoping for no such dramatics this time around as any slip will almost certainly hand the title to Mikel Arteta’s side.

Form

The Hammers secured a ninth-placed finish by beating Luton Town 3-1 last weekend, bringing an end to their six match winless streak.

Away from home, they have won seven and lost nine of their 28 matches away from the London Stadium. They have conceded five away from home on three occasions at Fulham, Crystal Palace and Chelsea, and also lost 5-1 at Liverpool in the League Cup.

They also have the third-worst away defence in the league, conceding 43 goals on their travels and haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home this year. The last time they prevented a home team from scoring was at the end of December. On that occasion, they beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates, so they are more than capable of getting a result against Champions League sides. However, that was only their third clean sheet of the season, and the only time they haven’t conceded in the league away from home this season.

The Hammers have also failed to score on just four occasions, proving they pose a real threat in front of goal. David Moyes’ side have scored 28 times away from home and have a goal difference of -15 going into Sunday’s match.

Danger Men

Jarrod Bowen has been on fire for West Ham this season with 20 goals to his name, and City will no doubt be aware of the threat he poses. Bowen has attempted 83 shots, the highest in the side, has a goal conversion rate of 24% and a shot accuracy rating of 57%. This is bettered by two other first-team regulars - Michail Antonio (61%) and James Ward-Prowse (59%). Ward-Prowse has scored 7 in his debut season at West Ham, as has Antonio. However, the former has played more (50) than the latter (31).

Bowen’s last goal was the opener in a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool, while his last goal away from the London Stadium was during a 4-3 defeat at Newcastle in March.

Mohammed Kudus is the Hammers second top scorer with 13 and Tomas Soucek has bagged 10. One-time rumoured City target Lucas Paqueta has contributed with nine so far. Spare a thought for George Earthy and Aaron Cresswell though. Both have one goal each and have only attempted one shot, which gives them a 100% accuracy and goal conversion rate.

Ward-Prowse has slotted into the Hammers midfield well and currently is the man with the assists. He has created 82 chances for his teammates, 11 of which have been taken. He has attempted the most passes with 2,093, of which 1,887 have been converted. This gives him a very impressive pass accuracy rating of 90%. Bowen has ten assists, while Paqueta has seven, although, he has created the second-highest number of chances in the team with 49.

Keep an eye out for Ben Johnson, if he plays. The full-back has made 22 appearances for the Hammers and created one chance, which was taken.

The Boss

The man who started Manchester United ’s demise in 2013, David Moyes, will take charge of his final game for West Ham. He rejoined the club as manager in December 2019 and has since taken them into Europe, winning the Conference League days before City’s Champions League victory, making it an English European double for the two teams with the two best sets of supporters in the country.

In his second spell at the London Stadium, Moyes has taken charge of 230 matches, and has won 103 and lost 82, which gives him a win ratio of 45%.

Last Time

City visited the London Stadium in September and fell behind to a Ward-Prowse goal in the first half. Jeremy Doku levelled 60 seconds after the restart, before Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland scored within ten minutes of each other to give the Blues a 3-1 victory.

Last season, City had to wait until the 50th minute before breaking the deadlock at the Etihad Stadium when Nathan Ake scored. Haaland added a second 20 minutes later and Phil Foden wrapped up the points with five minutes remaining.