Statistical Preview: West Ham vs Manchester City

A wondergoal from Ravel Morrison capped what has to be ranked as one of the biggest upsets of the season so far for West Ham, as they dismantled big-spending Tottenham to run out 0-3 winners at White Hart Lane.

- Much has been made of the recent showings of Ravel Morrison, the sometimes troubled youngster appearing to be on the cusp of fulfilling some of the vast promise he showed at Manchester United. His stats suggest there is still much more to come though as he currently only sits third in the Hammer’s squad for attacking contributions (shots on goal, assists, dribbles, crosses) with 15 but you can expect this total to rise rapidly the more minutes he racks up. Morrison is 6/1 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

- Free-flowing in attack the Hammers may have been last weekend but their performances of some of their defenders have been equally impressive so far this season. Standout Winston Reid currently sits in second place on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for defensive contributions (blocks, clearances, interceptions, tackles won) with 98, with an overall tackle success rate of 84.2% from 19 challenges.

- Teammate Kevin Nolan has been as equally committed to the cause for Sam Allardyce’s side this campaign, with a typically robust performance against Spurs. He attempted the joint second-highest number of tackles of any player in the Premier League that weekend (10), coming out on top in 40% of them.

- Mark Noble continues to run the show in the centre of the park for the Hammers this season, boasting the best average passing rate of any of his teammates. On average Noble has completed a pass in the opponent’s half once every 3.96 minutes according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

- Manchester City looked to have rediscovered some of their best form against Everton last time out with a 3-1 victory over the Toffees at the Etihad. Goals from Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero formed part of clinical but expressive victory, and City fans will be hungry for more this weekend.

- City right-back Pablo Zabaleta once again top the defensive statistics this season, the attacking-minded defender excelling at the back for Manuel Pellegrini. Not only has Zabaleta won a table-topping 34 challenges this season, he’s done so with a quite incredible overall success rate of 85%.

- Fernandinho still leads the Manchester City squad for defensive indiscretions this week, the Brazilian sitting third on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for fouls this season with 16.

- Sergio Aguero was clearly keen to prove a point against Everton after an indifferent season so far by his own lofty standards. The Argentinian perhaps lets his eagerness get the better of him though, with 3 fouls conceded against the Toffees, placing him joint second on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for the last round of fixtures.

- Summer signing Stevan Jovetic has been struggling for game time of late but will be hoping to force his way into Manuel Pellegrini’s thinking by taking his chances when they come along. So far he has an impressive record of creating a shot on target on average once every 39.5 minutes he’s been on the park, a noteworthy return when you consider the lack of league starts given to the Montenegro forward. Jovetic is 17/10 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.