Man City have already shown they can deal with likely West Ham tactic

After a bruising 4-3 encounter with Crystal Palace on Saturday, West Ham will not be looking forward to a trip to the Etihad to take on a monster Manchester City side.

The Blues have not lost since February 5 and are on for the treble, buoyed by last week’s 4-1 win over title rivals Arsenal before a classy 2-1 win away at Fulham. The Hammers are just four points from the drop zone and would be thrown right into relegation danger with a loss at City.

The schedule of Thursday to Sunday football has had a massive impact on their campaign, albeit they still find themselves in the semi-final of the Europa Conference League. The dream of European glory is jeopardising their Premier League safety.

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City also find themselves in the last four of a very different continental competition, although the similarities largely end there - apart from one statistic.

West Ham have conceded just four non-penalty set-pieces this season - a league best. City have conceded two more. Both teams have scored 11 times in this manner, joint fifth-best.

All three of West Ham’s goals at Selhurst Park came from corners but they were otherwise very tame. What is no doubt worrying for David Moyes off the back of those three goals against Palace is that they now travel to a club who last conceded from a set-piece at home on November 22.

City are not impregnable at the Etihad though - they have conceded in each of their last three Premier League home games. But from open play West Ham have been poor.

In fact, they have the worst record regarding this on the road having netted just four from open play. City have netted 41 times via this method on home soil, a league-high.

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