The Premier League is back and talkSPORT’s GameDay begins with a mouth-watering fixture between West Ham and Manchester City at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The Hammers couldn’t have imagined a tougher start, against a Pep Guardiola side that won every domestic trophy up for grabs in the last 12 months.
However, Manuel Pellegrini has replenished his West Ham squad well during the summer and their new-look attack of Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller could cause the champions some problems.
Manchester City’s squad is typically littered with immense talent and since Rodri, Angelino and Joao Cancelo signed over the summer, the Citizens look more formidable than ever.
But where will the match be won and lost? talkSPORT.com has identified three key battles that could decide the outcome of the match…
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Check out all the live commentaries coming up across the talkSPORT network this week
- West Ham vs Manchester City (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Leeds vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Crystal Palace vs Everton (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Tottenham vs Aston Villa (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
Ryan Fredericks vs Raheem Sterling
Last season’s Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Raheem Sterling will be relishing the opportunity to go face-to-face with just about anyone right now.
The England international already has a goal to his name this season and looks in fine fettle ahead of the Premier League opener.
Sterling netted a magnificent 25 goals in all competitions last term but will have to be more creative and dynamic against Fredericks, who is likely to match him for pace.
The 26-year-old right-back had an injury-riddled pre-season but after playing 80 minutes last week against Athletic Bilbao, he looks set to start.
Sebastien Haller vs Nicolas Otamendi
West Ham’s club-record signing will lead the line as he bids to impress the West Ham faithful straight away.
He enjoyed a stunning campaign for Eintracht Frankfurt last season – 20 goals and 12 assists in all competitions – so West Ham are rightly expecting plenty from the powerful centre-forward.
However, his Premier League debut will be spent tussling with the experienced Nicolas Otamendi.
The 31-year-old, who was linked with a summer move away, made just 18 appearances in the league last season and must impress straight from the off to keep his place in the team before Aymeric Laporte returns.
Both need to play well, albeit for different reasons but that’s exactly why it will be an intriguing battle.
Declan Rice vs David Silva
West Ham’s Young Hammer of the Year will be tasked with controlling a Premier League legend, who begins his last season as a Manchester City player.
The Spaniard usually wreaks havoc against West Ham having scored in four of his last five games against Saturday’s opposition.
Protecting West Ham’s back four is solely down to Rice, who will need to be on top of his game to stop a bombardment of attacks coming the hosts way.
There is no tougher opponent Rice and West Ham could have come up against to start the season but if he picks up where he left off with an impressive, confident performance, the considerable threat of Silva could be nullified.
