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Pundit Mark Lawrenson has predicted West Ham United to hold Manchester City to a draw at the London Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday, September 16.
West Ham are unbeaten after four games this season with three wins and one draw. They drew at Bournemouth in their opening game before beating Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town.
The Hammers are fourth in the league table, tied on points with Tottenham Hotspur (2nd), Liverpool (3rd) and Arsenal (5th). They are two points behind the leaders and their next opponents Manchester City, who have won all their games so far.
The Cityzens have beaten Burnley, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, and Fulham to begin their title defense in a brilliant fashion.
Lawrenson, however, has predicted City's perfect run to end on Saturday at West Ham. In his column for Paddy Power, he said:
"I’m going to have a draw in this game actually. If you said that to David Moyes right now he’d snap your hand off. They way they set up is very much focused on trying not to concede and making it very difficult so I’ll go for a draw."
Prediction: West Ham United 1-1 Manchester City
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola provides injury update ahead of West Ham clash
The Cityzens will be without three key players for their Premier League game at West Ham on Saturday.
In a pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola confirmed that John Stones and Jack Grealish are both currently nursing injuries. The Manchester City manager said (via mancity.com):
"They are both Injured. They aren’t able for tomorrow. I don’t know (how long for) - I don't think they will be ready for Red Star, but we will see, step by step."
"The injury for Jack is not muscular, but he has an incredible knock on his knee. Still the damage is there. John is still a little better, but has a disturbance in his muscles."
Stones has been out of action since City's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal on August 6. Grealish, meanwhile, has been out since their 2-1 win at Sheffield United on August 27.
Along with the duo, Kovacic is also ruled out for the West Ham clash, as Guardiola said:
"It is something muscular, and not a big issue but he’ll be out for tomorrow."
Kovacic has featured in all four league games for Manchester City but didn't feature for Croatia during the international break.
