London Calling: Manchester City face West Ham United
By David Crook
London may be a long inconvenient journey for a lot of Manchester City fans but our away record against London Clubs is nothing short of spectacular
It is fair to say Manchester City have become excellent performers away from home under Pep Guardiola. Away from home City find most sides tend to play more openly and so there is often more space and opportunity for Manchester City to exploit. Our excellent players have become masters at playing in the small gaps between mounted defensive lines so to encounter more open teams is revelatory.
Manchester City have visited the London Stadium 3 times since West Ham United moved there and have so far come away with 3 wins. But our away performances haven’t just delivered results against West Ham. Truth be told West Ham have been trying to establish their team in the Premier Division and have spent too long in the lower reaches.
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In 2018/19 season so far City have played 3 games in the capital and achieved 3 wins. Those wins were at Wembley in the season opener – The Community Shield, away at Arsenal and away to Spurs. In fact the last time Manchester City dropped points away to a team in London was on New Years Eve 2017 when they were held to a 0:0 draw at Crystal Palace. A game more remarkable for some appalling Crystal Palace tackles than for goal mouth action.
Between that game on New Years Eve 2017 and the end of the 2017/18 season there were another 4 games in the capital city, and City won them all. In fact the last time Manchester City tasted defeat in London was in the FA Cup semi final against Arsenal on 23 April 2017.
The last league defeat in London was over 2 years ago. You have to go back to a loss against Spurs on 2 October 2016. This is an impressive run of results, and whilst every run has to come to an end, it would be a surprise if the run ended this weekend.
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The lure of another win in the capital City for Manchester City may prove too strong. London should really be calling for Manchester City again.