Saido Berahino
Losing Saido Berahino would come as a huge blow to West Brom's hopes of avoiding trouble Getty

West Bromwich Albion host Manchester City at the Hawthorns on Monday (10 August) as the Citizens look to capitalise on the poor start to the season by Arsenal and Chelsea.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 8pm BST. Live coverage of the game will be on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to start the season on a high under Tony Pulis, who scraped the Hammers out of a relegation fight last season.

Alan Irvine, their previous manager, was shown the door following a series of poor performances on the bounce, but Pulis' experience led them to safety and the management will be hoping for a better start to the season this time around.

West Brom have been very busy in the market thus far, bringing in the likes of James McClean, James Chester and Rickie Lambert for a total outlay of over £12m, adding to his signings in January last season.

Pulis may still move in the market for some other recruitments, but their prime objective would be to keep hold of their top scorer Saido Berahino, who is wanted by Tottenham Hotspur.

Meanwhile, Manchester City have not had a great pre-season thus far, but if Arsenal's struggles against West Ham are to be analysed, the Premier League is a different ball game altogether.

City have made some astute signings this season, bringing in Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, who will give them some much needed creativity and pace from the flanks. Fabian Delph will add more depth and balance to their midfield while they look to bring in a few more players to reclaim their title.

The 2013/14 Champions will be buoyed by the fact that the winners of the past five editions of the Premier League started their campaign on a Monday, as Manuel Pellegrini looks to get into the good books of the owners after having signed a new deal till 2017.

What Managers Say

Tony Pulis: "They (the fans) will be the same as me, they will be waiting for some players to come in. They want some players, we want some and the dressing room wants some. It's important you get good players and you have to be careful. There's a pecking order in the Premier League. There's lots of clubs who do business early on. If you do business with certain clubs you can be busy, but if you do business with other clubs who are holding onto their players for whatever reason then it's difficult. You get a few in and there's a few left over. You have to be patient. Sometimes it comes off sometimes it doesn't."

Manuel Pellegrini: "For me, the first season was more difficult than the second. I had just arrived in England amid all the speculation and I had a duty to replace a manager [Roberto Mancini] who was loved by the fans and who had won titles. The first season was much more successful than the second, but for me it was much more difficult.

"Football is about experience. The longer you are in charge of a team, the more you learn about your players. Last season was very strange for me because I still don't understand why we had such bad results after January. After winning more away games than anyone else, we only won one of the next four."

Betting Odds

  • West Brom Win: 19/4
  • Draw: 56/19
  • Manchester City Win: 19/29

Team News

West Bromwich Albion

Possible XI: Myhill, Lescott, McAuley, Chester, Dawson, Brunt, Morrison, Fletcher, Gardner, Lambert, Berahino

Manchester City

Possible XI: Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva, Navas, Sterling, Aguero

Manchester City FC