The opening weekend is underway, and Sunday’s finale to the first weekend of matches will be a spectacular one as defending champions Manchester City visit the London Stadium to take on hosts West Ham United. Here, we take a look at West Ham United vs Manchester City from a soccer betting perspective.
As expected, City enter Sunday’s match as the overwhelming betting favorites. City are priced at -250 on the moneyline and will be expected to open the new campaign with a win against the Hammers. West Ham on the other hand, are +600 to win the match and face a tough challenge on the first weekend of the season in a game where they are firm underdogs.
The over/under total for Sunday’s contest is 2.5 with the over priced at -175 and the under priced at +137.
Expect A Big City Win
The market that is the most interesting for Sunday’s match is the Alternative Asian Handicap market, where Manchester City -1.5 is priced at +105. An interesting value for those who think City will come out flying in the first match of the new season.
Historically, City usually come out on top on Matchday 1. Manager Pep Guardiola has guided City to victories in five of six seasons in the opening fixture as the iconic manager typically has his club ready for the challenge.
City also usually win on the opening matchday by large margins that bode well for backing the defending champions on the Asian Handicap market. During Guardiola’s time in Manchester so far, City conceded just three goals while scoring fourteen on Opening Day.
If history is any indication, the defending champions should be well prepared and set up to put a hammering on West Ham when they enter the London Stadium.
Haaland Ready to Debut
After a short offseason, superstar striker Erling Haaland is set to make his much awaited debut in the Premier League for City. An important moment for Haaland, who comes to Manchester in a blockbuster big money move from Borussia Dortmund.
In the Bundesliga, Haaland put up buckets of goals for Dortmund to cement his reputation as one of the best young talents in the world. Unfortunately, those goals didn’t contribute to his club’s goal of chasing down FC Bayern for German football supremacy as BVB failed to win the league in his three season stint.
Now in Manchester, the trophies should come fast for the young Haaland now that he is aligned with the giants of English football at this present moment. Haaland is central to City achieving their goals of winning the Champions League in simulcast with continuing to maintain their stranglehold on the Premier League. So the expectation will be for Haaland to immediately start to produce goals from the starting blocks and prove his worth now that he is in the deepest league in the world. That expectation is evidenced by Haaland’s position as the favorite to finish as the league’s top scorer.
The oddsmakers expect Haaland to get on the scoresheet in this match as he is priced at a low -175 odds in the anytime goalscorer market. Those confident enough to back Haaland to score first can grab a much juicier +250 price.
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Same Faces at West Ham
Those doing their homework on West Ham ahead of the season won’t need to do much research as the Irons are sticking with an eerily similar squad from last season’s seventh place finish.
Wingback Maxwel Cornet is the lone transfer addition of consequence for manager David Moyes to work with, which has led to the boss demanding more support from the club owner’s. That support won’t be in tow for awhile and certainly will not be there in time for this match and it spells concerns for West Ham’s chances to take on the juggernaut collection of talents that Manchester City possesses.
Without an improved roster, West Ham look to be easy opposition for a City squad that bolstered its weaponry by bringing in the best young goalscorer on the planet. Given the gulf in talent and City’s sparkling record in the past on Matchday 1, it is wise to back the defending champions to win by two goals or more at a nice plus money price of +105.
