West Ham v Man City
PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Sunday, 1 March Kick-off: 1230 GMT
West Ham midfielder Mark Noble is suspended and defender James Collins (hamstring) will miss out.
Luis Boa Morte (groin), Kieron Dyer (calf), Danny Gabbidon (back) and Dean Ashton (ankle) remain sidelined.
Manchester City wide-man Shaun Wright-Phillips is suspended and Gelson Fernandes remains doubtful with a hamstring strain.
Nigel de Jong is available again, having been ineligible for the Uefa Cup victory over FC Copenhagen.
West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Collison, Kovac, Cole, Di Michele, Lastuvka, Lopez, Savio, Spector, Tristan, Sears.
Man City (from): Given, Hart, Schmeichel, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Kompany, Bridge, Garrido, Zabaleta, Elano, Caicedo, Ireland, de Jong, Fernandes, Robinho, Bellamy, Vassell, Weiss, Logan.
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola:"We are really dying to win again after our FA Cup defeat on Wednesday, and that is the kind of feeling we must have.
"The guys are not willing to sit on this too long and we are determined to put another run of good results together.
"We know what we are capable of achieving and will work very hard to make this happen."
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes: "West Ham are playing good football, a short passing game with good quality up front. Carlton Cole is doing well, he's always had the talent but has possibly under-achieved in previous seasons.
"It's another test for us, a difficult place to go. It was always a bit tasty at Upton Park when I was a player with United and Chelsea. But I used to enjoy it, there's always a great atmosphere. It's up to us to go there and quieten them down."
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BIG-MATCH FACTS
Two clubs adjacent to each other at the bottom of the top half of the Premier League table, go toe to toe at Upton Park.
Both West Ham and Manchester City have won nine games, but the Hammers are one point better off.
Both sides were in action midweek; West Ham were knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough.
Manchester City head to East London, with an appalling away record. Only one victory has been accrued in 13 attempts away from the City of Manchester Stadium this term.
Manchester City will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run over West Ham in the Premier League to six matches. The Citizens have won four and drawn one of the last five and only conceded one goal in the process.
Distance between the clubs: 215 miles (347 kilometres) Manchester City are making the longest journey of any club for a Premier League match this weekend.
CLUB FORM
WEST HAM UNITED
Club stats
Going into this round of matches: 9th 33 points
Best & Worst categories in 2008-09 Premier League(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)
1. Lost their last two Premier League matches, against Manchester United (home) and Bolton (away).
2. Completed 16 top-flight games since losing three in a row; in fact they tumbled to four straight losses throughout the month of October 2008.
3. Down by seven points on this same stage last season, when they crept up to ninth for one week from their 10th placing where they returned to and stayed for the rest of the season.
4. Lost just one of the 10 games in which they have opening the scoring; home to Everton on 8 November.
5. Their three game winning run at home was brought to an end with a 0-1 victory by Manchester United in the most recent top-flight game at Upton Park on 8 February.
6. In danger of a hat-trick of top-flight defeats to North-West clubs, having lost home to Manchester United and away to Bolton in their last two league outings. Not beaten a club from the region in six attempts, from which only one point was garnered.
7. This game precedes another mid-table match-up, away to Wigan before back-to-back fixtures with relegation-haunted sides; home to West Brom and away to Blackburn.
Fixtures
MANCHESTER CITY
Club stats
Going into this round of matches: 10th 32 points
Best & Worst categories in 2008-09 Premier League(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)
1. Won four of eight Premier League matches.
2. 12 points down on this identical juncture last season, when in the top seven.
3. Won all seven league games in which clean sheets have been kept, and lost all six matches in which they've failed to score.
4. Not registered a goalless draw in 33 top-flight matches, the longest current such sequence by any club in the Premier League. The most recent was away to Bolton on 22 March last year.
5. Drawn five and lost six of the last 11 away league games.
7. Their only Premier League victory on the road this season came courtesy of a 0-3 triumph over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on 31 August.
8. Won one of nine top-flight trips to London; 0-2 against West Ham on 11 August 2007.
9. The next four fixtures after this will include clashes with three of the 'Big Four'; home to Aston Villa and away to Chelsea and Arsenal.
Fixtures
KEY PLAYER NOTES
WEST HAM UNITED
Squad profiles
Robert GREEN is the only remaining player to have been on the field for every minute of every one of West Ham's Premier League matches this season.
Carlton COLE is the club's top Premier League scorer with eight goals.
If selected:-
GREEN will be making his 100th appearance in a West Ham goalkeepers' jersey.
MANCHESTER CITY
Squad profiles
ROBINHO is the club's top Premier League scorer with 11 goals.
Shaun WRIGHT-PHILLIPS is a hat-trick shy of 50 club career goals (Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea). ?
If selected:-
Richard DUNNE will be making his 300th career Premier League appearance (Everton and Manchester City)
Craig BELLAMY will be facing a former club. The 29 year old Wales international made 26 appearances (24 in the league) and scored nine goals (seven league) for West Ham between July 2007 and his move to Eastlands in the January window.
Michael JOHNSON will be playing two days before turning 21.
HEAD TO HEAD
Last season's equivalent fixture was Manchester City's first match under Sven-Goran Eriksson and new owner Thaksin Shinawatra, and resulted in a 0-2 victory for the visitors to East London. Since then of course, both have moved on.
If City pick up a third consecutive league victory at Upton Park, they will complete a second Premier League double over West Ham; the first came in the season before last.
Home and awayLeague (inc PL): West Ham 32 wins, Man City 37, Draws 12Prem: West Ham 6 wins, Man City 8, Draws 3
at West Ham onlyLeague (inc PL): West Ham 23 wins, Man City 10, Draws 7Prem: West Ham 5 wins, Man City 2, Draws 1
LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester City11 August 2007 - Ref: Peter Walton Man City scorers: Bianchi 18, Geovanni 87
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United24 August 2008 - Ref: Howard Webb Man City scorers: Sturridge 65, Elano 70, 76Sent Off: Noble (West Ham) 38
REFEREE
Mike Dean (Wirral)
