Manchester City, still fighting on three fronts with the calendar turning to May, welcome relegation-threatened West Ham to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola must navigate a Premier League title fight, an FA Cup final, and a Champions League last-four battle over the next two months.
Man City's enviable depth has helped to take them this far, and Kevin de Bruyne's absence in the short-term mattered little as his replacement Julian Alvarez produced a stunning winner against Fulham last time out. They have no other injury concerns to note, meaning this exceptionally talented squad will be at full strength for the busy run-in.
West Ham, meanwhile, are solely focused on retaining their Premier League status, already likely having done enough with a host of struggling teams behind them failing to make ground. Still, sitting just four points above the relegation zone, more work still must be done to secure top-flight football next season and a shock result here would be just what the doctor ordered.
LIVE BLOG: Follow all the action from the Man City vs West Ham match
The Sporting News football betting expert Kyle Bonn shares his best bets, props, and high risk/high return fliers for some of the biggest matches in the sport each week. Since the start of 2023, his best bets have hit 52.9% of the time, while his overall selections have generated a profit of over 21 units thus far. He has also correctly predicted 49 of 103 match outcomes via his 3-way moneyline leans to date.
Man City vs West Ham match facts
- Date: Wednesday, May 3
- Kickoff Time: 3:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm BST / 5:00 am AEST (Thu, May 4)
- Location: Etihad Stadium (Manchester, England)
- Official: John Brooks
- Last meeting: West Ham 0-2 Man City (Aug. 7, 2022 | Premier League)
Man City vs West Ham prediction, odds
- Moneyline lean: Man City (-500)
- Handicap lean: Man City -1.5 (-175)
- Score prediction: Man City 3-0 West Ham
Man City are without question the best team in the Premier League, but at home their dominance is even more pronounced. In 2023 across all competitions, Man City are 16-0-0 at home, outscoring opponents 47-6. Those are truly astonishing numbers, especially considering that includes games against top European clubs like Arsenal (twice), Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea.
We haven't quite reached the part where Man City could be looking ahead to the Champions League (hint hint, against relegation candidate Leeds United this weekend), given that they're still fresh off taking the Premier League lead, so expecting a drop-off here might be too much to ask.
| Man City win | Draw | West Ham win | Both teams to score Y / N | Over / Under 3.5 goals | MCI -1.5 | WHU +1.5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetMGM (USA) | -500 | +600 | +1200 | +100 / -145 | +110 / -150 | -175 | +125 |
| Sports Interaction (Canada) | -538 | +590 | +1200 | -106 / -147 | +112 / -143 | -169 | +132 |
| SkyBet (UK) | 1/5 | 6/1 | 12/1 | 10/11, 4/5 | 1/1, 8/11 | — | — |
| Neds (Australia) | 1.20 | 6.50 | 13.00 | 2.00 / 1.75 | 1.46 / 2.70 | — | — |
| Dafabet (India) | 1.20 | 6.90 | 13.00 | 2.00 / 1.75 | 2.10 / 1.73 | 1.59 | 2.36 |
Man City vs West Ham: best bet
- Pick: Correct score band: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0
- Odds: +190 (BetMGM)
- Pick: Correct score band: 2-1, 3-1, 4-1
- Odds: +290 (BetMGM)
Finding value when you expect Man City to throttle the opposition is really really difficult, because the betting market is so skewed in their favour, that even things like Man City over 2.5 goals (-135) come in at unpalatable odds. Even for City, there's still significant risk involved in that selection.
There's not even value in taking risks on a player like Erling Haaland, who is -350 to score and +150 to score a brace. Julian Alvarez is minus odds to score, and he's not even a regular starter!
So, finding value is extremely difficult, and one must get creative. So, here we have two best bet selections paired together with 0.5 units on each, which when paired together will profit should one of them hit. Given Man City's dominance at home, it's hard to expect West Ham to score twice — only one team has scored multiple goals on Man City at home in 2023, and that's Tottenham way back in January. With this double selection, as long as City don't go ballistic, it generates a profit of 0.95 units if Man City keep a clean sheet, and 1.45 units if West Ham manage a goal.
Man City vs West Ham prop bet
- Pick: 1H — Man City win and over 1.5 combined goals
- Odds: +160 (BetMGM)
Man City have been a first-half dominant team all season long. Not only have Man City scored the most first-half goals (41) of any Premier League team, but they have scored 49 percent of their season total before the break, in a sport where most teams are significantly skewed towards the second half.
Only Leicester City, Wolves, and...West Ham (57%) have scored a higher percentage of goals in the first half. It's reasonable to expect City to reach the break in front, but if West Ham is going to get on the board, it will likely be in the opening 45 minutes as well.
Man City vs West Ham live stream, TV channel
MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with Fubo in USA
MORE: Watch Man City vs West Ham match live with Fubo in Canada
| TV channel | Streaming | |
| USA | USA Network, Universo | Fubo, Peacock, NBC Sports, Universo NOW |
| UK | Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League | Sky GO |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | — | Fubo |
| India | Star Sports Select 2 | Hotstar VIP, JioTV |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport Premier League | Sky Sport NOW |
| Malaysia | Astro Supersport | Astro Go, sooka |
| Singapore | 221 Hub Premier 1 | StarHub TV+ |
| Hong Kong | Now Premier League TV (620), Now Premier League 1 (621) | Now E, Now Player |
