ANALYSIS KEY ISSUES FOR BLUES

WHO PLAYS RIGHT-BACK?

IF there’s one thing City can usually rely on, it is their right-back position.

Kyle Walker has made the position his own since signing in 2017, while no player in the squad has featured more this season than Joao Cancelo – even if most of those appearances have come on the left. In the last round of the Carabao Cup, teenager CJ Egan-Riley was handed his debut.

Tonight’s game with West Ham throws up a selection poser. David Moyes’s team are probably too good and experienced to throw EganRiley in again, but there are also arguments for resting the two senior options; Cancelo can’t play every game, and the struggles of other England players after the Euros has added to the idea that 31-year-old Walker should be protected rather than flogged.

PALMER SURGE

COLE Palmer will be looking to carry on his recent good form.

After playing two games in a day – coming on as a substitute in the Premier League before going on to score a hat-trick for the Under-23s – he then scored his first Champions League goal in the 5-1 win over Brugge. Palmer is quickly establishing himself as a valued member of the firstteam squad and this game feels like an opportunity for him to further his case against well-coached opposition in West Ham.

WEST HAM STRENGTH

IT used to be that City coasted to a big victory every time they rocked up to the London Stadium, although last year they had to scrap to come away with a 1-1 draw.

That was in part due to their physical struggles at the beginning of an exceptionally congested season, but it also showed the improvement that Moyes has overseen in East London – so impressive that the Hammers are now competing in Europe again.

That brings its own complications, which could lead the home team as well as City to rest a few of their stars for bigger battles ahead.