West Ham United

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West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse to BBC Sport: "Disappointing. When you come against a Manchester City team you'll be up against it and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say fair play. All of their goals were of real quality, just a shame we couldn't respond."

On his goal: "There was quite a long build up. Micky (Antonio) made a good run and created the space for Vlad (Coufal) to come in and I was confident to get onto the end of it. Diving header - not a lot of those in my collection but I'll take it."

On his change of position at West Ham: "Yeah, sometime I'm a bit higher but I try and be that box-to-box midfielder but I feel I have the license to do both which is good."

West Ham manager David Moyes, speaking to BBC Sport, said: "Small margins, we've had small margins in the other games that we've won. Today their keeper made a couple of saves and those margins could have gone our way which they didn't. Ultimately we were up against a top team.

"Bad timing for their first goal right after half-time but I was more disappointed with their second goal, it's really poor. In the main we've defended really well for long periods in the game.

"We were probably as good on the ball today against City as we have been for a long time but didn't get the opportunities as we would have liked form it. We were still a threat but not enough."

Matthew Howarth, BBC Sport

West Ham had just 22% possession when they beat Brighton at Amex Stadium last month, and for a while it looked as though they might secure another famous victory here despite having their backs to the wall for the majority of the first half.

After weathering an early City storm, they took the lead following a beautifully executed counter-attack that was expertly finished off by James Ward-Prowse.

Had they come through the early stages of the second half unscathed, David Moyes' side would have been well-placed to preserve their unbeaten start to the campaign - but it was not to be.

Their narrow lead was wiped out just 43 seconds after the interval, before late goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland earned City a hard-fought victory.

The Hammers have had an excellent start to the 2023/24 season, but this was a step too far for Moyes and his players.

• West Ham are currently winless in 16 matches against Manchester City in the Premier League (D3 L13), their joint-worst run against any club in the competition, also failing to record a win in 16 matches against Manchester Unted between 1993 and 2001.

• Manchester City have started a league campaign with five consecutive victories for the fifth time in their history, after 1897-98, 1912-13, 2015-16 and 2016-17, although their highest finish in any of those campaigns was third.

• West Ham’s James Ward-Prowse has now scored or assisted in six consecutive appearances in the Premier League for the first time in his career, netting three goals and assisting four more during this run.

• After failing to register an assist in 31 appearances in the Premier League last season, Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez has recorded three assists in five games in the competition this term.

• Bernardo Silva both scored and assisted in a match for the 11th time for Manchester City – he has been directly involved in 112 goals in all competitions for the club, with an equal split for goals and assists (56 each).

Second-half goals from Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland helped Manchester City come from behind to beat in-form West Ham and continue their winning start to the Premier League season.

James Ward-Prowse's diving header gave the Hammers the lead against the run of play, but Doku's first City goal restored parity 43 seconds after the interval.

Silva then collected Julian Alvarez's looping ball over the top of the West Ham defence before calmly prodding past the onrushing Alphonse Areola.

Haaland had squandered several opportunities before he extended City's lead with a trademark finish.

Leaders City restore their two-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table after Jurgen Klopp's side beat Wolves in the early kick-off, while West Ham drop to sixth.

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Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

His opponent for this weekend's fixtures is Afro-pop star Midas the Jagaban, who supports Manchester United.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Manchester City are going to completely control possession in this game, but West Ham boss David Moyes won't care about that.

The Hammers will just be sitting back and waiting to spring forward, and they are very good at that.

Moyes is great at what he does in games like this, which is setting up his side to keep their shape and be hard to break down.

Yes, it's very different to Pep Guardiola's attacking philosophy, but these sort of differences in tactics are part of what makes football so fascinating.

I still think City will be too strong for them in the end, but they are going to have to work hard to maintain their 100% start.

Midas the Jagaban's prediction: As long as Erling Haaland is on the pitch, West Ham have no chance. I predict a Haaland hat-trick. 1-3

Find out the predictions for the rest of the weekend's matches

With reports of other offers coming in for Jesse Lingard while he continues to train with West Ham, the Football Gossip Daily podcast have been discussing where the midfielder's future may be.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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"Leicester did it so there's always a chance. Put your pounds on it! I'm not saying it's going to happen though..."

So says Michail Antonio after West Ham's fine start to the season leaves them third in the early Premier League table.

The Jamaica striker's tongue was firmly in his cheek on the Footballer's Football Podcast and he admitted the players had not anticipated such a positive beginning given how pre-season unfolded.

"We hardly won a game," he said. "In the last friendly, we got battered 4-1 by Bayer Leverkusen and it was embarrassing. We were actually embarrassed by ourselves.

"In the changing rooms afterwards, we were all saying, 'This is frightening'. You don't normally take pre-season on board but the way we got beaten really frustrated us.

"We spoke and said things needed to be better."

Ten points from four games has certainly achieved that goal and this Saturday they host champions Manchester City. Antonio says he is only thinking about winning.

"A title six-pointer" he joked. "We did not want the international break as sometimes that can mess up your flow.

"But I think it's a great game to come back to as we are getting thrown straight in at the deep end. We're ready and we are going out there to play for the three points. Get those, and we go top of the table."

Asked if the two-week hiatus meant Manchester City could be running cold, Antonio laughed: "You don't catch City on the hop! They're always ready.

"But, an early home goal - then park the bus!"

What did Antonio make of the win at Luton?

And why does he think a move to Saudi Arabia would be "a dream" for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah?

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Jarrod Bowen has been explaining how West Ham get the chance to "really test" themselves when they face Manchester City on Saturday.

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David Moyes has spoken to the media before West Ham's Premier League game against Manchester City on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On the international break: "We really enjoyed the international break because of the start to the season we’ve had. The players have worked hard during this period and we’re hoping the boys all come back fit."

• A few players have "picked up little bits of knocks" over the break, but Moyes hopes that everyone will be available for Saturday's match.

• He is happy with the buisness done during the transfer window: "I’m pleased with the players we’ve got. The club have supported and backed us to get lots of really good players and we’re building another good team to go again."

• Moyes says that Kurt Zouma will continue to captain the Hammers: "He’s done a good job, we’ve won three and drawn one of the opening four games, so he will continue in the role."

• Moyes spoke about defender Nayef Augerd, whose home country of Morocco was impacted by an Earthquake last week: "I had a chat with Nayef this morning and my understanding is they were in the city where the earthquake was. They’re all shaken by the whole situation. He’s back in, he’s training, but it’s a terrible tragedy for everybody."

• Moyes spoke on his preparations for a busy fixture list thanks to the return on European football: "It doesn’t mean you always play one to XI, you have to use your 21, 22 players and that’s what we’ll do in the coming months."

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Former England midfielder Jesse Lingard continues to train with West Ham but has received offers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and MLS since leaving Nottingham Forest. (90min), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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West Ham striker Michail Antonio says it was "an unbelievable feeling" to win at Luton before the international break given the atmosphere at Kenilworth Road.

The Hammers spoiled Luton's first ever Premier League home game as Jarrod Bowen and Kurt Zouma scored before Carlton Morris scored a late consolation.

Antonio told the Footballer's Football Podcast that the atmosphere was "decent" but he and his team-mates relished escaping Bedfordshire with three points.

"They have a decent fanbase and the atmosphere was good," he said. "They were really giving it to our boys and to be fair, what they said to Jarrod was a bit cheeky. I can't repeat it here. Fans can always make a bit of banter but they went a bit too far.

"Then Jarrod bags and he's like 'What are you talking about?'

"Then with Kurt, everywhere he goes he gets a bit of banter and they were really giving it to him. The tunnel is so small and they were screaming in his face.

"Obviously he then scores and he ran off to them and they lost their heads. It's an unbelievable feeling. The only way to shut them up is bagging [a goal]. That hits more than anything they can possibly say."

Asked if either he or his team-mates were intimidated by the atmosphere, Antonio laughed it off.

"I buzz off it, banter is for me all day," he said. "I love it. The team wasn't affected at Luton either. If it had been a harder game where we were getting battered, the players would probably struggle but we were pretty comfortable."

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