Pep Guardiola has made three changes from the side that started against Real Madrid in midweek.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Omar Marmoush and Matheus Nunes all start, with Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku and Savinho all making way.

Mateo Kovacic also makes a welcome return on the subs bench after an absence four months.

Savinho misses out with what is believed to be a slight knock.

Line-ups

CITY:  Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, Ait-Nouri, Rodrigo, Bernardo (C), O’Reilly, Marmoush, Semenyo, Haaland

Subs: Trafford, Dias, Reijnders, Ake, Kovacic, Cherki, Doku, Nico, Foden 

West Ham United:  Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Todibo, Diouf, Soucek, Fernandes, Bowen (C), Pablo, Taty

Subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Wilson, Adama, Magassa, Potts, Kante, Mayers

Formation and tactics 

Gianluigi Donnarumma takes the gloves with Nunes and Ait-Nouri as our full-backs and Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guéhi in central defence.

In midfield, Rodri will anchor a trio that includes skipper Bernardo and Nico O’Reilly.

Erling Haaland will be flanked by Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush in a 4-3-3 formation.
1 Position not changed
Arsenal Arsenal
31 21 7 3 61 22 39 70 Drawn Drawn Won Won Won
2 Position not changed
Manchester City Man City
30 18 7 5 59 27 32 61 Won Won Won Won Drawn
3 Position not changed
Manchester United Man United
29 14 9 6 51 40 11 51 Won Drawn Won Won Lost
Last updated: 14 March 2026

Blues’ hammer time

City will not be losing focus on our Premier League title challenge.

The midweek defeat to Real Madrid was a blow, but thoughts of the Champions League will put to one side as we return to league action against an improving West Ham team.

The London Stadium has been a very happy hunting ground for City in the Premier League with seven wins and two draws in our nine visits and if there is any truth in the theory of ‘horses for courses’, we will have a spring in our step as we walk out this evening.

As will Erling Haaland, who has bagged 11 goals against the Hammers - more than he has scored against any other opponent - and with our Norwegian striker looking to find top form again, this will be a chance to do exactly that.

This will be a tough game, despite the above statistics, and the home support will no doubt be buoyant and noisy under the lights in East London.

But Pep Guardiola says his team are just as desperate for three points as the relegation-threatened hosts are, so expect City to go for this and aim to establish a commanding lead as quickly as possible.

Stats, facts & milestones

West Ham United are winless in 20 Premier League matches against City (D3 L17), since a 2-1 win in September 2015. It’s their longest ever winless league run against an opponent.
City are unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League games against West Ham (W17 D3). Only against Fulham (a current run of 22) and Newcastle (22 between 2006 and 2018) have they had a longer unbeaten run in their league history.
West Ham have never beaten City at the London Stadium in the Premier League in nine attempts (D2 L7) – they have only faced Brighton as often without winning there (D7 L2).
Following a 1-0 win over Fulham last time out, West Ham are looking to win consecutive Premier League games for the third time this season, previously doing so in November (v Newcastle and Burnley) and January (v Spurs and Sunderland).
When counting first halves only, City would have 67 points in the Premier League this season, 13 more than any other side (Arsenal 2nd with 54). However, they are 8th in a second half table with 41 points; their difference of 26 points between first and second half results is the most of any side in the top-flight in 2025-26.
City have lost just one of their last 17 Premier League games (W11 D5), going down 2-0 to Manchester United in January. However, the Blues have dropped eight points from winning positions in that run thanks to draws with Chelsea, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.
City boss Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in all 19 of his Premier League games against West Ham (W17 D2), the most a manager has faced an opponent without ever losing in the competition. Meanwhile, the only manager to be unbeaten in their first 20 Premier League games against an opponent is Arsène Wenger against Leicester City (first 20 between 1997 and 2017).
City’s Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than any other opponent (11). He’s netted at least twice in his last three against the Hammers – only Michael Owen against Newcastle (1998-2001) and Harry Kane against Everton (2017-2018) have scored 2+ goals in four consecutive Premier League games against an opponent.
Four of Crysencio Summerville - injured for this game - has scored five Premier League goals this season and all have put West Ham 1-0 ahead, the highest proportion of opening goals of any player to score at least four times this term (80%).
Eight of Antoine Semenyo’s 10 Premier League goals for Bournemouth this season came in the second half of games, while all five of his strikes for  City so far have come in the first half

Watch City v Real Madrid from hospitality!

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Two of the best sides in the world lock horns again, with this year’s Round of 16 tie to be decided at the Etihad on Tuesday 17 March.

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