Nicolas Otamendi set for Manchester City chance in Vincent Kompany's absence
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is set to turn to big-money signing Nicolas Otamendi to fill the void left by injured captain Vincent Kompany this weekend.
Kompany will miss the Barclays Premier League leaders' home clash with West Ham on Saturday after suffering a calf injury in the midweek Champions League loss to Juventus.
It will be the first time this season Pellegrini has changed a back four that has so far been near faultless, keeping a clean sheet in each of their opening five Premier League games.
Otamendi, a B#32million buy from Valencia in the closing days of the summer transfer window, seems the most likely player to step in having come off the bench to replace the influential Kompany against Juve.
Pellegrini said: "It is always serious having injured players, especially the captain and especially in a moment when we didn't concede any goals in the first five games.
"I think it is important to carry on playing with the same names but I always say we have a squad.
"It is important for Nicolas Otamendi to have his opportunity to demonstrate why he is here and Martin Demichelis to return to his performance of last season. We have a squad and we need to replace the captain.
"Otamendi has been working with our team for the last three weeks - maybe not as much as we would like because he went with the national squad, but he is an experienced player, he must have his opportunity in this moment now. I hope he will have a good performance."
City have set formidable standards this season, with five successive wins opening up a four-point lead at the top of the table, and Pellegrini is hopeful they can be maintained in Kompany's absence.
He said: "Tactically we are working in exactly the same way that we did in the other two seasons but we are in a good moment because when individual performances are in a good moment, normally the team is also in a good moment.
"It is not easy not to concede one goal in the Premier League but we hope we can continue."
City are without Samir Nasri, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph but striker Sergio Aguero has recovered from the knee injury that limited him to just seven minutes against Juventus.
"He is 100 per cent and will play without any problems," Pellegrini said.
Record £54million signing Kevin De Bruyne could also make his first City start but Pellegrini, speaking at his pre-match press conference, was non-committal.
Meanwhile, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes players as good as Dimitri Payet do not need time to adapt to the Barclays Premier League.
Payet moved to Upton Park from Marseille in June and has been one of the stars of the season so far, scoring three goals in his first five games.
At just over B#10million, the Frenchman looks to be one of the bargains of the summer already, but Bilic is not surprised how quickly the 28-year-old has settled.
"Some players need some time and also with Dimitri, he will go down and up," Bilic said.
"But in England, you talk too much about separating Premier League from other leagues.
"There is not so much talk about players moving from France to Germany, France to Italy, Italy to France, Spain.
"They don't talk much about is he going to make it? How much time does he need to adapt to the Premiership?
"If a player is a good player - of course it's a new environment, new country, blah, blah, blah - but Dimitri, he is 28, he is a really class player.
"It's not his first move, he played for Lille, Saint-Etienne, Marseille - Marseille is an extremely big club, with big pressure, big responsibility.
"He was a key player there and to be fair, still he is not settled completely, but he is such a class player and a good man, good professional, it doesn't surprise me."
West Ham travel to Manchester City hoping to extend an encouraging start to the season which sees them sitting fifth in the table.
Away wins at Liverpool and Arsenal can give the Hammers belief at the Etihad Stadium, but City will offer a stern test, having won all five of their games so far without conceding a goal.
"We're going to have be as solid or even more as concentrated together as we were against Liverpool and Arsenal," Bilic said.
"You have to give them something, you cannot stop all of them. It's not only up to us. They are Man City.
"It's going to be more up to them how the game is going to be played because they have that quality.
"But we are confident."
Source: PAR
