I personally believe that this game will be our hardest yet.
You kinda' know what to expect from Big Sam for this game; long balls, 4-5-1, defending deep and Andy Carroll.
I definately think we have to go little and large for this game, Weat Ham are going to expect everything played to our feet from us, so why not play them at their own game a little by playing Dzeko?!
Do we play Tevez with him, who is last games goal scorer or Aguero, a man who needs a goal? Either way one will be on the bench ready for Ajax next Tuesday. Mancini will definately in my opinion go for a Tevez - Kun or a Tevez/Kun - Balotelli partnership against the Dutch.
I can see Andy Carroll up top on his own, I think Lescott is a definate due to his heading ability, Nastasic will be better suited for Ajax. The MEN reckon Zabaleta will be back come weekend, which really is about right! A strained hamstring does not last 2/3 weeks, if it was torn then yes.
--------------------Hart-----------------
Zabaleta--Kompany--Lescott--Kolarov
------------Barry------Yaya------------
---Nasri---------Agüero---------Sinclair
------------------Džeko-----------------
I think we can go quite attacking with Kolarov and playing just 2 CM's as I think we will get most of the possession anyway, I do think that Mancini will drop Sinclair and put Milner in midfield compared to my desired setup.
I am expecting a very tough tight knit game, but an early goal should open them up a little! Something we haven't been doing this season, as most teams in the PL are happy to sit back and try and get a draw or hold on for as long as possible and nick it late on when we are tired after we have been playing most of the football ala Sunderland last season.
