Manchester City can win a record fourth consecutive Premier League title on Sunday with a win over a visiting West Ham side playing under David Moyes for the final time.
After defeating Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday night, City (27-3-7, 88 points) edged two points in front of second-place Arsenal heading into the final day of competition. City will win the Premier League title with a win or an Arsenal draw or loss vs. Everton.
Manager Pep Guardiola’s City side have won eight in a row in the league, all by multiple goals, while outscoring opponents 30-5 in the process. Erling Haaland has scored nine of his league-leading 27 goals in that stretch, including both in Tuesday’s win at Spurs and four in a 5-1 triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers three matches ago.
But as inevitable as City’s success may feel, Guardiola warns his side must pay the same attention to details against the Hammers as they have all season.
“We want to experience it again and we have to perform,” he said. “You can’t think ‘we want to win it’, you have to do something to (earn) it, you have to be resilient in the bad moments.
“… Don’t talk about the consequences, just what you have to do to win, to control it, the transitions, the coolness, the set-pieces, the long balls — how you defend every single ball. There’s a lot of stuff that West Ham demand that you have to do, and you have to do it perfect.”
City also may have to do it without attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, who departed in the 69th minute of Tuesday’s win with an undisclosed injury. He is questionable for Sunday.
Moyes’ West Ham (14-13-10, 52 points) will be trying to play spoiler in the finale of an inconsistent season, but one in which the Londoners have proved an ability to make problems for the league’s best.
The Hammers’ 2-0 win at Arsenal back on Dec. 28 may prove the difference in this year’s title chase, and they also earned a 2-2 home draw against third-place Liverpool on April 27.
Jarrod Bowen already has set a career high with 16 Premier League goals. He could set a new high for total goal contributions with another goal or assist on Saturday.
And after a convincing 3-1 win over Luton in Moyes’ final home match, he has a chance to help Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta — who once played for Moyes at Everton.
The Hammers announced earlier this month that Moyes would be leaving at season’s end.
“Football is a strange game, you never know what moments are going to give you the opportunity to win and we have to try and take those opportunities when we can,” Moyes said. “We’re not playing to make Manchester City lose the Premier League and we’re not playing to make Arsenal win the Premier League. We’re playing for West Ham and we’re trying to win the game for West Ham.”
–Field Level Media
