West Ham United vs. Manchester City Betting Preview – EPL, October 24, 2020

West Ham’s incredible second half comeback against Spurs at the weekend attracted a lot of headlines but David Moyes would probably enjoy a quieter afternoon this Saturday.

That is probably going to be unlikely however, considering that Manchester City is the visiting team to the London Stadium.

Manchester City has not looked like the unbeatable side it was a few seasons ago – and West Ham is not the pushover it was for large sections of last year – but MyBookie still considers the home side to be far weaker here. The odds are probably a little unfair but it would still be slightly risky to back the draw or home win in my opinion.

David Moyes has had his detractors since taking the job at West Ham but he does seem to have installed a steelier defensive unit in a team that was crying out for that last season. The first half of the game against Spurs last weekend may not exactly prove that point – but West Ham is definitely harder to beat this term.

There is also a fairly attractive group of attacking players at the club now – and Michail Antonio will be pleased that it hasn’t been entirely down to him to score the goals for his side this season. He may not get as many chances this week anyway – but he is still the main threat up front.

Many EPL fans thought that after last season’s capitulation to Liverpool, Manchester City would come back strongly in an attempt to take back the title. But although Pep Guardiola’s side will undoubtedly be in with a shout this season, there have still been some shortcomings in the City team so far.

The narrow victory over Arsenal last weekend was well deserved but it was not the all-conquering display that we had come to expect a few seasons ago. The good news is that Sergio Aguero is back and looking as sharp as ever. But the bigger bad news is that Kevin De Bruyne is going to miss some games in the coming weeks – and that is a big hole to fill in the team.

The bookies haven’t quite caught on to the fact that West Ham has improved since last season and that makes it more difficult finding the value in the odds for this fixture. I do still think that Manchester City will come away from London with all three points, but the price for the away win means that there will not be much in the way of returns.