West Ham United kick off their Premier League campaign with a tough fixture against the defending champions Manchester City.

City are on the hunt for their third successive title, and have made some promising signings this summer in order to reinforce their chances.

The Hammers have also spent big this summer in the hope of breaking into the top 6, and will go into the game knowing they can make a statement with a good result against the Blues.

City’s former manager Manuel Pellegrini now has a strong Hammers squad to choose from, and has very few injury doubts to worry about. Mark Noble is a doubt with a thigh injury, while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski may miss out because of a groin problem.

As for City, Benjamin Mendy is still out with a knee injury, and Aymeric Laporte is unlikely to play a part through injury. Leroy Sane is a doubt after he suffered a knee injury against Liverpool in the Community Shield. Fernandinho may be in contention for a start, or we could see new signing Rodri make his first Premier League start.

Predicted West Ham XI:

Roberto

Fredericks, Diop, Balbuena, Cresswell

Rice, Wilshere, Fornals

Anderson, Haller, Lanzini

Predicted Man City XI:

Ederson

Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko

Fernandinho, De Buryne, David Silva

Bernardo Silva, Aguero, Sterling

Score prediction: West Ham 1-3 Man City

Head to Head: City have beaten the Hammers 56 times in total, losing 17 games and drawing the other 17.

Match odds:

West Ham to win: 11/1
Draw: 11/2
Man City to win: 2/9