Man Cityvs.West Ham

The England international fractured a bone in his foot in the 5-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend, thus ruling him out for the foreseeable future and depriving Julen Lopetegui of his chief attacking threat.

Bowen has registered 10 goals and six assists in Premier League away matches since the start of last season, and with Michail Antonio still recovering from his car accident injuries, Niclas Fullkrug should be summoned to deputise for Bowen.

The German will likely be supported by Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus, but Lopetegui could try to capitalise on City's weaknesses in the full-back areas by bringing in Crysencio Summerville.

The visitors will be strengthened by the returns of Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek from suspension, and it would not be a surprise to see both men promoted back to the starting lineup over Carlos Soler and Edson Alvarez, the latter of whom was hooked at half time in the Liverpool lashing.

Vladimir Coufal also failed to come back out for the second half of that five-goal obliteration, and Summerville's introduction would allow Emerson Palmieri to return to his regular left-back role and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to start on the right over his Czech teammate.

Max Kilman shook off an injury scare to partner Dinos Mavropanos at the back last time out, but Lukasz Fabianski is still recovering from concussion, so Alphonse Areola will act as the last line of defence.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Soucek, Rodriguez; Kudus, Paqueta, Summerville; Fullkrug

Written by

Ben Knapton