West Ham United and Manchester City have quite an extensive history with one another, facing off 120 times in the years since their initial meeting on St George's Day 1924. Football FanCast has everything you need to know as the two teams prepare to meet again in the Premier League.
While it's still early in the new season, the four games played by both sides can give us some insight into their form going into the game and how they might approach it.
To nobody's surprise, the visitors have started the season off like a house on fire, claiming all 12 points on offer before the international break and doing so without breaking a sweat. So far, they have scored 11 league goals and conceded just two, making them the clear favourites going into the game on Saturday.
That said, the Hammers have also started their league campaign with some brilliant performances and equally brilliant results. In fact, David Moyes' men are currently unbeaten after their first four games and occupy fourth spot in the table, level on points with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal.
Whilst there might have been an element of good fortune with their win over Brighton & Hove Albion – they took less than half as many shots and finished the game with 22% possession – their wins against Chelsea and Luton Town were both thoroughly convincing and suggest that the Hammers could well be the real deal this year.
However, for as good as the East Londoners have looked so far, Pep Guardiola's side are European Champions for a reason, and so they will be going into this game as firm favourites, especially with their Norwegian goal machine already finding the back of the net at an inhuman consistency.
West Ham vs Man City: What's their head-to-head record?
West Ham and City have faced off against one another fairly regularly since their initial meeting 99 years ago. Their 120 games mean that they have averaged 1.2 matches a year since that first meeting.
Despite the reasonably even nature of this fixture for the first 80 years of its existence – with periods of dominance for either side – the last decade-plus has, unsurprisingly, come to be dominated by the incredibly wealthy Man City.
In total, the Sky Blues have come away victors from this game on 63 occasions, whereas the Hammers have only been able to beat their Northern opponents 37 times and claim a single point 19 times.
City's sheer dominance can be seen in the fact that they have only lost two games against the Irons in their last 20 meetings in all competitions.
West Ham Wins
37
Draws
19
Man City Wins
63
West Ham vs Man City: What's their Premier League record?
Well, with everything we just explained about the recent nature of this fixture, it should come as no surprise to anyone that City has well and truly dominated in the Premier League era.
In total, the Cityzens have won 27 of their 44 league clashes since the league's creation – a 61.3% win rate. West Ham, on the other hand, have claimed all three points on just nine occasions – with the last time coming back in 2015, pre-Guardiola.
The points have been shared eight times, with the most recent draw coming just last year.
West Ham Wins
9
Draws
8
Man City Wins
27
West Ham vs Man City: What's their record at West Ham?
This might actually come as a surprise to some, given their overall record, but when they're playing host, it's West Ham that have come out with all three points more often than not.
In the 58 games held in East London over the years, the Hammers have come away as victors on 25 occasions, giving them a pretty respectable win rate of 43.1%.
City, on the other hand, have won just 20 games in the East End.
West Ham Wins
25
Draws
13
Man City Wins
20
West Ham vs Man City: What's their record at Man City?
West Ham's home record might've made for pleasant reading for their fans, but their record in Manchester certainly doesn't. In fact, when the teams clash in the northwest, it's hardly even a competition.
In total, Man City have won 41 of the 59 games held in the city, giving them an outlandishly good win rate of 69.4%.
For their part, the Irons have managed to leave Manchester as winners just 12 times – 20.3% – and with a share of the spoils six times – 10.1%.
West Ham Wins
12
Draws
6
Man City Wins
41
West Ham vs Man City: Which team has the most goals?
Well, the answer to this probably shouldn't surprise people, considering how this fixture has gone over the years. Yes, Man City have scored more goals than their East London opponents over the years.
Although, with City winning almost twice as many games as the Hammers, the fact that they have scored just 59 more goals than them is actually somewhat surprising.
In all, the treble winners have scored 214 goals in 120 games – giving them a ratio of 1.7 goals per game – whereas the Hammers have scored 155 goals – giving them a ratio of 1.2 goals per game.
West Ham Goals
155
Man City Goals
214
West Ham vs Man City: What happened in last season's fixtures?
City and West Ham played their 119th and 120th games against one another last season, meeting only in the Premier League. Unfortunately for Moyes' men, both games were one-sided affairs won with relative ease by Guardiola's side as they chased down a third successive Premier League title.
Their first meeting in the league came in the opening weekend and saw Erling Haaland open his City account with a goal in both halves to hand the defending champions all three points.
The reverse fixture came in May and saw Haaland joined on the scoresheet by Nathan Ake and Phil Foden as the hosts ran away 3-0 winners – despite West Ham going in level at the break.
West Ham vs Man City: What is West Ham's biggest win?
West Ham registered their biggest win over the blue half of Manchester twice in the same year. In the 1962/63 season, the Hammers beat City 6-1 home and away in the old First Division.
The first instance came in September when the East Londoners travelled to Maine Road and came away with maximum points thanks to a brace from Malcolm Musgrove and goals from Johnny Byrne, Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, and Tony Scott.
The reverse fixture at Upton Park went just as well, with braces coming from Hurst and Alan Sealey, whilst Ronnie Boyce and Peter Brabrook added another two goals to West Ham's tally.
West Ham vs Man City: What is Man City's biggest win?
Man City's biggest win over the Hammers came in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final in January 2014, when they put six goals past Adrian in the Iron's goal to no return.
Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick that day, whilst Edin Dzeko scored a brace, and Yaya Toure rounded off the scoring with one of his own. City would beat the Hammers 3-0 at Upton Park in the second leg to well and truly demolish their opponents.
City would beat Sunderland 3-1 in the final to claim the trophy.
West Ham vs Man City: What are the recent results?
The last five games between these two sides have seen 12 goals scored – including one penalty and one own goal – and a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in the League Cup. Unsurprisingly, City have come away the more successful side.
Still, with just three wins out of five, an argument could be made that they have slightly underperformed, given their utter dominance of English football in that period.
West Ham can take some encouragement from the 2-2 draw last May and their League Cup win going into the game this weekend.
West Ham vs Man City: When is it?
West Ham host Man City on Saturday 16th September at 3pm British Summer Time. Whilst this fixture hasn't traditionally been one with high stakes in the Premier League or one that has even been all that competitive following City's takeover in 2008, the teams' positions in the table and recent form have given this upcoming game some much-needed jeopardy.
Both teams will be going into the contest with high morale and their own goals in mind.
City will want to continue their dominant start to the season and keep their winning run going for as long as possible, especially after Arsenal managed to find a last-minute winner against Manchester United just before the international break.
On the other hand, West Ham will want to keep adding points to their tally early on in the season to avoid another relegation scrap come the new year. And with how his new signings are performing, we wouldn't put it past Moyes being able to use the positive atmosphere at the London Stadium to pull what would be the surprise of the weekend and come away with a point, if not more.
Overall, this should be an exhilarating game to watch on Saturday, with a lot on the line for both sides and a stadium that should be rocking before a ball is even kicked.