By Steve Hewlett
Roberto Mancini, Manchester City (Getty Images)
Related Links
Teams
With Carlos Tevez missing with a hamstring injury, many City fans fear that the Argentine has played his last game for the club. Rumours concerning the striker’s future just refuse to go away and Tevez is unlikely to play again this season.
Roberto Mancini is not expected to make any changes to the side which won at Blackburn last Monday and will be anticipating a comfortable home win which should all but clinch Champions League football for the Citizens next year.
Avram Grant is certainly being restricted in his team selections as the Hammers continue to fight against the drop to the Championship. Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year Scott Parker is still out with an Achilles injury.
Also in the sick bay are Mark Noble, Garry O’Neill and Matthew Upson. With such players unavailable to him, that fight is getting increasingly difficult.
- West Ham have been on a terrible run of late; their last win of any kind was on March 5 when they defeated Stoke City 3-0, six games ago.
- This fixture has been kind to City. They have not lost against the team from the capital at home since they met in the FA Cup in March 2006. West Ham won that day 2-1 with Sun Jihai being sent off.
- Avram Grant’s (pictured right) record against City is dead even, two wins and two defeats. However, the two victories both came whilst the Israeli was in charge at Chelsea. Indeed, one of the victories was a 6-0 drubbing of City by Chelsea.
- Carlos Tevez’s importance to the Manchester outfit cannot be over-emphasised. He leads the league goal scoring charts with 19, Mario Balotelli is second on six, and perhaps surprisingly Yaya Toure comes in third with five. With City having an eye on FA Cup glory too, the need for the likes of David Silva and Edin Dzeko to get among the goals increases.
Commentaries, Stats, Player Ratings and much more,
Visit Goal.com Live Scores!
