West Ham v Man City preview: Sofiane Feghouli avaliable but Fernandinho suspended
Friday 6 January 2017 19:44, UK
Sofiane Feghouli will be available as West Ham welcome Man City in the FA Cup on Friday (kick-off 7.55pm), but the visitors will be without Fernandinho.
The Hammers forward had his red card from Monday's clash with Manchester United rescinded by the FA and will be available for selection.
However, Fernandinho's sending off earlier that day stands and after being sent off against Chelsea at the start of December, it has been extended to four domestic fixtures, including the cup trip to the London Stadium.
It will also be Pep Guardiola's first taste of FA Cup football, and the Catalan confessed he was looking forward to enjoying the "magic of the cup".
"In the Bundesliga, the cup tradition is special. What I hear here is that the cup is special because the low teams can beat the big teams - that's why it's fascinating. I'm looking forward to it," he said.
The Hammers reached the quarter-finals of last season's competition, but were knocked out to eventual champions Manchester United after a replay.
Team news
West Ham duo Cheikhou Kouyate and Andre Ayew have left for Africa Nations Cup duty while Diafra Sakho, James Collins, Arthur Masuaku, Alvaro Arbeloa and Gokhan Tore are still injured.
However, defenders Sam Byram and Reece Oxford are back in training following spells out and are in contention for places in the squad.
City captain Vincent Kompany is back in training, but the trip to London will come too soon as Guardiola confirmed he would not be available for selection.
The manager also said it would be unlikely for him to rotate his squad too much given the calibre of their Premier League opposition, but could bring in Willy Caballero for Claudio Bravo between the sticks.
Match stats
These two sides have not met in the FA Cup since a third-round clash in 2008, with City eventually winning 1-0 in a replay at the Etihad.
City have only lost two of the last 15 games in all competitions against the Hammers (W10 D3), although they've failed to win their last two away games against them (D1 L1).
West Ham have lost only one of their last eight FA Cup games at home (W5 D2), however that game was a quarter-final replay against Manchester United last season.
The Citizens have progressed past the third round in six of their last seven seasons, losing out to United in 2012.
Dimitri Payet has had a hand in five goals in six appearances for the Hammers in this competition (three goals, two assists).
Kelechi Iheanacho has appeared three times for Manchester City in the FA Cup, scoring four goals and assisting another.
Charlie's prediction
It's always tough to know what sort of teams are going to turn out in the FA Cup, which makes it harder to make a prediction.
We don't know how highly Pep Guardiola will prioritise the FA Cup, but he'll need to make a few changes after getting his first taste of a busy festive period in England. I'd expect to see Nolito come in along with Leroy Sane, if he's fit.
West Ham have taken a step back again after starting to move forward, although they'll certainly be aggrieved by the nature of their loss to Manchester United. Slaven Billic is the right man to get them back on track in the long term.
I do I see them suffering another blow here, and I'm going for a repeat of the scoreline we saw when they met in the Premier League at the Etihad.
Charlie predicts: 1-3 and Nolito to score first (45/1 with Sky Bet)
