Safe to say, Manchester City have given West Ham an absolute pasting this season.

From their two matches so far this term, a Premier League fixture in August and an EFL Cup clash earlier this month, Pep Guardiola's side boast two wins with an aggregate scoreline of 8-1.

But in terms of recent form, it's actually the Hammers who come out better; despite Payet-gate lingering over the club, Slaven Bilic's boys have claimed four wins from their last seven Premier League outings, whereas City have failed to find victory in three of their last four.

That includes hefty defeats to Everton and Liverpool on Merseyside, forcing Guardiola to admit the Citizens' planned title push could be over already, and a disappointing draw with Spurs despite going 2-0 up at the Etihad Stadium.

In short, the two-time Premier League champions are there for the taking when West Ham host them under the London Stadium floodlights tonight. We take a look at three ways the Irons can claim revenge for their humbling defeats at the hands of the Citizens.

Aerial bombardment

Such a strategy may contain traces of Sam Allardyce but West Ham need to play to their strengths against high-quality opposition and aerial dominance certainly falls into that category. On average, the Hammers win 2.4 more aerial duels per match than the visitors, whilst they also rank second throughout the Premier League for headed goals this season - as shown above.

To call City weak in the air would be a little unfair, but it's clearly not a priority for Guardiola and in stark contrast to the east Londoners, Liverpool are the only club in the top six to have conceded more headers than his side so far this term - as shown below.

Of course, taking the aerial approach requires the kind of long-ball-game Hammers fans came to detest under Allardyce, but there is another advantage of going direct against City; bypassing that immensely talented midfield, whilst putting pressure on a back four, Claudio Bravo included, desperately struggling for confidence at the minute.

Further highlighting aerial bombardment as a potential breaking point, Bravo ranks a lowly 20th throughout the Premier League for catches this season - although he does have a 100% success rate.

Set Pieces

Inherently linked with their aforementioned proficiency in the air, West Ham simply must take advantage of City at set pieces. Once again, it's not exactly a Citizens weakness but the table above shows just how more effective the Hammers are in this regard, ranking second throughout the Premier League for goals from dead ball situations this season - equating to 31% of their top-flight tally of 36.

No doubt, the Irons boast some fantastic targets in the air. 13 of Michail Antonio's 16 Premier League goals for West Ham have come via his head, including the most of any player in the division, six, this season, whilst centre-backs Winston Reid, James Collins, Jose Fonte and Angelo Ogbonna are all real beasts in the air.

And then there's the not-s0-small matter of Andy Carroll, who has returned to fitness with a bang and now boasts three goals in his last two Premier League outings. Although just two goals have come with his head this term, the occasional England man has averaged a whopping 9.9 successful aerial duels per match - the most of any Premier League player - as shown below.

Press high and pin City back

Whether West Ham have the right kind of player to press high up the pitch remains open to debate. Andy Carroll, although large and somewhat mobile, isn't exactly renowned for winning the ball back in the final third and overall, it's not something you'd particularly associate with the Hammers under Slaven Bilic - they more tend to sit back before hitting on the counter.

Nonetheless, the likes of Spurs, Liverpool, Leicester City and Everton have provided the perfect template for West Ham to follow, if their forward players can dig a little deeper and find a bit more energy for a rather unique ninety minutes.

City will shuffle the ball around the back until they're blue in the face, even if they're being hounded from all sides, and in the high-octane world of the Premier League, that inevitably leads to mistakes in possession and consequently, conceding sloppy goals.

As we've already mentioned, City's confidence in defence is at an all-time low right now, so if West Ham take a risk by pressing high, it seems inevitable they'll eventually win the ball in dangerous areas.