The 2-2 draw between West Ham and Arsenal is perhaps the time when the title momentum dramatically swung back in favour of Manchester City. The Gunners had surrendered two points from winning the game the previous week against Liverpool, however, after an outstanding first half in east London, they looked set to regain a seven-point mercury at the very top of the League.
Arsenal understood that if they lost to Manchester City last week, their fate would be out of their hands after two Hammers goals and a failed Bukayo Saka penalty. The fact that they dropped two more points at home to Southampton before losing at City further added to the chances that the trophy will remain in Manchester after all.
Therefore, the least that Arsenal supporters can hope for is that West Ham ups its game against the champions on Wednesday night at the Etihad. However, the indicators don’t look good. The Hammers won their next two games after Arsenal’s visit, losing to Liverpool and Crystal Palace but giving up six goals in the process.
West Ham’s Campaign Against City
Despite not having won against City in the league since 2015, the visitors have recently picked up a few victories and haven’t suffered a loss of more than two goals in their last seven games across all competitions. And a two-goal advantage over David Moyes’ team can disappear in an instant, as Arsenal is all too familiar with.
There is still a lot to play for, and Pep Guardiola isn’t ready to take anything for granted with the Hammers battling for their lives. “West Ham maybe didn’t do the season they expected but that doesn’t mean the quality is not there,” he said. Arsenal will be hoping that West Ham can build on their early-season success.
- 12 Games since West Ham last failed to score, a 4-0 defeat at Brighton on March 4
- 2 Goals for Erling Haaland in City’s win over West Ham on the opening day of the season.
All 10 of the Hammers’ league games this year against teams in the top six have ended in losses (Draw-3, Lost-7). In their 26 Premier League away meetings against the reigning champions, West Ham has only managed one victory, a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in December 2001 thanks to a goal by Jermain Defoe.
With Pep Guardiola as the man in charge for City, David Moyes is winless in all 10 Premier League matches (Draw-2, Lost-8), and he has dropped all five of his away games—four by a score of 2-1. West Ham has not defeated Manchester City in 14 league games (Drawn 3, Lost 11) since defeating them 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in September 2015. In the Premier League, City has defeated West Ham 17 times at home, including 14 times in the last 16 meetings at Etihad Stadium (one draw and one loss).
