Manchester City are hours away from potentially lifting their fourth consecutive Premier League title when they take on West Ham in the final game of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s side must beat the East London side to deny Arsenal their first title in 20 years. The Gunners have not won the league title since their Invincibles trophy in the 2003/04 season.
City were boosted by their 2-0 win over Tottenham earlier this week, which saw them jump to the top of the table and two points clear of Arsenal. Ahead of the clash, Ederson will miss out after suffering an eye socket fracture at Spurs.
The Brazilian was forced to withdraw from the game following a collision with Cristian Romero. Although it is believed that the 30-year-old did not suffer a concussion, he will sit out at the Etihad Stadium, with Stefan Ortega set to take charge between the sticks.
City also had a Kevin De Bruyne scare after he received treatment at Spurs for being caught on the ankle and was forced to be withdrawn. However, he was included in one of City’s training pictures on Instagram along with Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias.
The post was captioned as: “Match mode ON.”
Other players, including the likes of Manuel Akanji, Haaland, Nathan Ake, Sergio Gomez and Jack Grealish, have also taken to social media to hint they will be involved in the title decider at the Etihad Stadium. They have all posted pre-match graphics, which has historically tended to hint at inclusion in the matchday squad.
Speaking ahead of the game Guardiola said: “We would like to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes but that’s not going to happen. I’m ready for it to be a tough, tough game. I want to put in the mind of the players, ‘look at Tottenham [on Tuesday], how they fought for every ball’. [West Ham] will be ready to beat us. I don’t have any doubt about that.
“It was the same with Aston Villa two years ago – they were in the same position, they didn’t have anything to play for – and we know what happened. Our people have to come here and be ready from the first minute, to be with us and do it together.”
