Torres time to shine
Ferran Torres was bought as the replacement to Leroy Sane and he could thrive against West Ham in the same way that the German international did.
In five games against the East London side for Manchester City, Sane clocked up three goals and an assist as his pace and direct running caused all kinds of problems.
Torres started to show what he can do in the final games before the international break and looked bright again off the bench in midweek as he scored a fine goal.
As Pep Guardiola juggles his team with another Champions League match coming up to think about, the 20-year-old attacker could be the perfect man to step up and make the difference.
Home from home
City love the London Stadium almost as much as everyone else loathes it.
They have played five games there under Guardiola and have won all five, scoring 22 and conceding just one. There will be no fans there on Saturday - although there will at a cinema down the road, farcically - but many a home fan has failed to see out the 90 minutes before while the away support have made the most of their team's stroll on the pitch.
Nothing would point to the craziness of this season like a narrow West Ham victory.
Fan farce
Apologies if this sounds like flogging a dead horse, but it feels like an apt time for a reminder of how rubbish football is without fans and how non-sensical the restrictions are.
On Wednesday, the surreal refereeing and bickering across the benches would have been so much more livelier with two sets of supporters in. And this Saturday West Ham fans will be able to pile into a cinema 500 metres from the ground to watch the game but can't get into the stadium.
All grounds in the league are big enough for adequate social distancing but the cavernous London Stadium particularly is. If clubs can't get the revenues from letting people watch - especially given the universal acceptance that it makes the game as well as the business worse - their frustration that others can is understandable.
Table toppers
If it remains foolish to read too much into the table at this point, City can reach more familiar territory with three points at West Ham.
Victory in the lunchtime kick-off will temporarily take them to third, above champions Liverpool on goal difference and behind early pacesetters Everton and Aston Villa.
In what has been a strange start to the campaign, the sight of Guardiola's side at the top end of the table would be a sign that at least some things are starting to return to normal with the manager expecting more to settle in time.
