One win is all it takes for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to achieve what would rank among the greatest achievements in English football history. Some of the greatest teams this country has ever seen -- Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, Liverpool in the 1980s, the Arsenal side that pioneered the W-M formation -- burgeoned their mythic status by winning three league titles in a row. No one has ever reached the summit four times in a row.
Beat West Ham at home and that is exactly what City will have done. Tuesday's dramatic 2-0 win at Tottenham means the reigning champions are in control of their destiny. Win and they are champions. Anything else opens the door for Arsenal to snatch the crown -- and there will be trophies at both the Emirates and Etihad -- at the last. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
Viewing information
- Date: Sunday, May 19 | Time: 11 a.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium -- Manchester, United Kingdom
- TV: NBC | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: Manchester City -1400; Draw +1100; West Ham +2000
Team news
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola will be sweating on the fitness of Kevin De Bruyne after the Belgian turned his ankle just after providing the assist for Erling Haaland's opener. The likes of Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku make for eminently usable if rather different alternatives but the City boss was at pains to note the value of experience from those who had to fight back from two goals down to beat Aston Villa and snatch the title on the final day in 2021-22.
"I think the fact that they lived it not too long ago, some players are still here and they feel it," said Guardiola. "That's what I saw perfectly in the reaction in the locker room after Spurs away a few days ago. They were relieved, they were 'wow' but there were no extra celebrations or something. They were happy but incredibly calm."
City will have to do without the man who started in goal that day, Ederson ruled out for both the last day of the league season and the FA Cup final with a fractured eye bone. Stefan Ortega will take his place.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ortega; Walker, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri. Kovacic; Silva, Alvarez, Foden; Haaland
West Ham: With no prospect of moving up or down from ninth position in the table, West Ham will be playing for pride in what will be David Moyes' final match as head coach. He will at least have a well-stocked squad to choose from: Kalvin Phillips is ineligible to play against his parent club but has hardly made the sort of impression that would have him featuring away to the champions even if he were available. Konstantinos Mavropanos and Nayef Aguerd have battled with injuries in recent weeks but this could be a game where veteran center back Angelo Ogbonna says farewell after nearly a decade of service.
Speaking as to what might happen at the Etihad, Moyes said, "Football is a strange game, and you never know what moments you're going to have to win games. We have to try and take those opportunities when they arrive. We're fully focused on ourselves. We're not playing to make Manchester City lose the Premier League or for Arsenal to win the league, we're playing for West Ham and we're trying to win the game for our supporters."
Possible West Ham XI: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta
Prediction
Nerves might get to City as they frequently do in the big games but expect the champions to find a way through at the decisive moments. PICK: Man City 2, West Ham 0
