PREVIEW: West Ham v Man City

It seems like an age since we pulled off the shock of the season at White Hart Lane, and now we face one of the title favourites in Manchester City for a chance to do it all again.

It’s funny what a surprise win can do to confidence. Both the fans and the players appear to be in much more positive mood heading in to another game against a top-quality Premier League outfit – and all the stats suggest we stand a pretty good chance of taking something from Saturday evening’s game.

Sam Allardyce pulled off a tactical masterstroke against Tottenham Hotspur, but he’ll probably need to do a lot more to get a similar result against Manuel Pellegrini’s men. Lining up 4-6-0 at home is not something Allardyce will be considering, especially after bringing back Carlton Cole to stand in for Andy Carroll.

And it’s the selection process that is going to have Allardyce scratching his head on Saturday. Does he stick with the starting line-up he went with against Spurs but in a different formation? Where does Matt Jarvis fit? How can he drop Ricardo Vaz Te after his goal in the last appearance? Does he stick Carlton Cole straight in, or does he give Mladen Petric his first Premier League start?

City haven’t won on their travels so far this season and have lost at Cardiff City and Aston Villa, which means they’re more than beatable and certainly vulnerable away from the Etihad. Add to the that the face that the majority of City’s squad were away on international duty last weekend and we’ll have had a better chance to prepare and focus on the game.

This means we’ve got an opportunity to take at least a point at the Boleyn Ground and continue our steady climb away from the bottom of the top-flight and ease the early fears we had of a season-long battle against relegation. That win against Spurs is exactly what we needed in order to get our season back on track and, even if we don’t get a positive result against City, we’ve seen enough evidence already to know we’re going to be ok this season.

Verdict: We’re capable of a result, but a score draw will do just fine.

Team News:

West Ham United (13th, 8 points)

James Collins picked up a hamstring injury during the international break and will miss out.

Carlton Cole could make a second debut for the Hammers, while Mladen Petric is pushing for his first Premier League start.

Andy Carroll and Alou Diarra are the only long-term absentees for the Hammers.

Manchester City (5th, 13 points)

Captain Vincent Kompany (thigh) and Jack Rodwell (hamstring) are both expected to return to the side after their injuries, but the game appears to have come to early for Martin Demichelis (knee).

Last five meetings:

Possible starting XI:

Match in Numbers:

17 – Mark Noble has created 17 goal-scoring chances so far this season, more than any other player in the Premier League.

1 – City have picked up just one point from a possible nine away from home in the Premier League this season.

30 – Pellegrini’s City are unbeaten in the 30 games in which Sergio Aguero has scored (W28, D2)

3 – The Hammers are without a win in each of their last three home matches against City (D2, L1)

50 – Carlton Cole is just two goals away from 50 league goals as a West Ham player.

100 – If George McCartney starts, it will be his 100th league start for the Hammers.

3 – Yaya Toure has scored three goals in his last four games against West Ham.

2 – The Hammers have not won two Premier League games on the bounce since February 2011.

95 – This will be the 95th competitive meeting between the two sides.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)