West Ham United v Manchester City – Head To Head

The Premier League returns on Saturday, and not a moment too soon. City travel the West Ham, hoping to secure another three points that will keep them at the top of the table. But is history in this fixture on their side? Let’s take a look.

The blues have faced West Ham on 53 occasions, with 49 in the league and three in cup matches. From the league games, City have won just fourteen, losing 25 and drawing 10. It’s a different story in cup competitions though, with City winning their first League Cup tie at West Ham 2-1 in November 1984. They drew their first FA Cup meeting at the Hammers in January 2008, before securing their trip to Wembley for the League Cup Final in January 2014, thanks to a 3-0 win to add to the 6-0 home victory two weeks earlier. The last FA Cup meeting in January 2017 ended with a 5-0 win for City.

The blues won this fixture 2-1 the first time the two teams met in London in April 1924. However, they then went on to lose the following five matches between February 1925 and December 1930. During the five matches, the blues managed just one goal and conceded 15.

After that first win, City had to wait until March 1951 for their next win, which came courtesy of a 4-2 victory, however they lost the following match 5-1 eight years later. City’s longest unbeaten run at the Hammers is five matches, achieved between May 2010 and January 2014, when the blues won three out of their five fixtures. The longest losing streak is still the five matches as mentioned above.

City won the last ever Division One encounter between the two sides at Upton Park, with a 2-1 win in September 1991, when Steve Redmond slipped while taking a penalty, yet it somehow eluded the keeper and ended up in the back of the net. The Hammers equalised with five minutes remaining, but centre back Colin Hendry decided to play striker and score a last minute winner.

But the first four matches of the Premier League era ended in defeat for the blues. Between November 1993 and November 2000, City lost four fixtures heavily – 3-1, 3-0, 4-2 and 4-1, however none of these are City’s heaviest defeats. That honour cam way back in May 1963, when West Ham hit City for six, winning 6-1. By contrast, the blues biggest victory is the 5-0 FA Cup tie in January 2017, while the biggest league victory is 4-0, achieved on three occasions – March 1962, December 1969 and February 2017.

The blues have won on their last three visits to West Ham by considerable margins – 5-0, 4-0 and 4-1, the last being the match where Pablo Zabaleta scored the blues 100^th goal of the season, despite wearing the claret and blue of the Hammers. A draw or win will equal City’s longest unbeaten run at the London club.

The two teams have met in this fixture in November on nine occasions, winning three, losing five and drawing just the one, which is also the last time this fixture ended 0-0. The teams have never faced each other at West Ham on 24^th November.

In total, the blues have scored 70 goals and conceded 83. They have kept a clean sheet at the Hammers fourteen times, but have only failed to score 16 occasions. City’s longest streak without scoring is three matches, which has been achieved on two separate occasions – 1928-1930 and 1974-1977. City’s longest goalscoring streak at the Hammers is ten consecutive matches - March 1951 to December 1969. During this period, the blues winning and losing four of the ten matches.

The blues have lost just one of ten league and cup matches at the home of the Hammers, winning six. Can they make it seven from eleven? We’ll find out on Saturday.