City Don’t Travel Well

Man City are heavily odds-on to win Saturday’s late kick-off at Upton Park but if you put reputations aside the prices seem strangely out of line.

West Ham lie just outside the Champions League places and only eight points behind City. It is true they have gained more points than their performances deserve but they are still a top-half team by any other metric.

If you go on more recent form, there is again little to separate the sides, both have gained 11 points from their last five games.

You can see where I’m going with this and I haven’t even taken home advantage into account – or more pertinently Man City’s poor away record.

City have only won four times in ten trips away from the Etihad and even though they won 4-0 last weekend, the scoreline flattered them because of a poor performance from Wayne Hennessey.

West Ham have upset numerous teams this season and at 21/5 (BetVictor) they are value to win in front of their buoyant home fans.