West Ham will be the latest team that look to take advantage of Manchester City's poor form when they visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as City boss Manuel Pellegrini faces another test as he looks to keep hold of his job beyond the end of the season.

After being joint top of the table come New Years Day, City have regressed massively in performance and now find themselves fourth in the table, and in danger of not qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League with Liverpool ready to take advantage of any slip ups. An awful run has seen City lose six of their last eight games, as Barcelona knocked them out of the Champions League as their slump in the league began.

Despite the inconsistent form, a shining light for City this season has come through David Silva. The Spanish playmaker has taken on the mantle of 'match winner' in the absence of Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure through injury and form respectively. With 13 goals this season, Silva is on course for his most prolific season in England, and could prove to make the difference on Sunday.

For West Ham, it's been a very promising campaign as of yet, and whatever happens between now and the end of the season they can count it as a very promising one. An early challenge for the top four was never going to last, and they have slowly trickled down the table into 10th place. Despite this, they have played some superb football at times as manager Sam Allardyce slowly looks to implement a new attaking style of play. Recent form has been mixed, with a win, draw and loss from the last three, but Hammers fans won't mind that after consecutive losses in the three games prior.

An influx of signings at a club during a summer transfer window rarely offers huge impacts straight away, however it certainly did for West Ham as Diafra Sakho, Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia have all had excellent first seasons, however it's somebody that has been around a little longer who could make the difference in the game. After a shaky first season, goalkeeper Adrian has had a superb season in London. The Spanish 'keeper is likely to face a huge amount of shots against City, and will have to be on top form for his side to get anything out of the game.

Team news:

City's striking issues go on as Wilfried Bony (knee) and Stefan Jovetic (thigh) remain sidelined. Captain Vincent Kompany is doubtful due to a hip problem, whilst James Milner (knee) and Gael Clichy (calf) won't be fit for selection.

West Ham have similar striking problems as the injury prone Andy Carroll remains out with a knee injury. Top goalscorer Diafra Sakho won't get the chance to add for his 10 league goals due to a thigh problem, whilst defender James Tomkins is still out with a shoulder injury.

When they last met (West Ham 2-1 Manchester City):

West Ham produced one of their performances of the season in October as goals from Morgan Amalfitano and the aforementioned Sakho put them 2-0 up after 75 minutes, with David Silva's superb late solo goal not enough to salvage the game for City.

Manager's comments:

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce spoke about his sides apparent drop in performance late in games during his pre match press conference. The Hammers have dropped seven points in injury time this season, more than any other side.

'The motivation for our players should be that they have let themselves down by not achieving the results that they should have done from the positions we have been in. We want to get the feel-good factor back by winning a few games and getting the confidence back up.'

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has called for some team spirit ahead of the game, insisting that everyone is to blame for their poor form. For extended Pellegrini quotes, click here.

'The players always have my support - I have trust for the group. I hope we will score goals and stop conceding easy goals. With trust, we can recover. My responsibility is for the whole team. I choose the players and I always trust them. Results are my responsibility.'