Manchester City vs Fulham – Match Preview and Team News

In partnership with

The Football Faithful

·05 de outubro de 2024

Manchester City vs Fulham – Match Preview and Team News

Manchester City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium this Saturday, as they look to extend their unbeaten run to ten games.

However, their opposition will provide a stern test for Pep Guardiola’s side, as Fulham have commenced this term in impressive form.

Vídeos OneFootball

The Spanish manager will still be without several key figures as Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb all continue to recuperate and recover from their respective injuries.

Marco Silva has almost a complete squad at his disposal, with only Jorge Cuenca and Carlos Vinicius unavailable for selection.

Manchester City vs Fulham – Match Preview and Team News

Form

Manchester City: DDWDW

Man City picked up their first three points of the 2024/25 Champions League campaign in midweek with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia.

It was an evening of firsts for Pep Guardiola’s men as the reigning PFA Player of the Season Phil Foden netted his first goal of the campaign and academy graduate James McAtee recorded his first ever goal in Sky Blue.

Ilkay Gündoğan and the inevitable Erling Haaland also found the net to complete the rout and ensure the three points were coming back with them to Manchester.

With nine games gone, City remain undefeated, but after two successive league draws they find themselves in second place trailing Arne Slot’s Liverpool by a solitary point.

Read – Guardiola compelled ‘inside bones’ to defend Man City

Fulham: DDDWWW

Marco Silva’s Fulham have flown under the radar so far this season as they currently sit in sixth position in the Premier League.

If you discount their penalty shootout defeat to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup, the Cottagers are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions.

In fact, their only loss of the campaign was on the opening day away at Manchester United, where a late Joshua Zirkzee goal was the difference.

Last weekend they burst the unbeatable bubble of Nottingham Forest as they inflicted a first defeat of the season on Nuno Espirito Santo’s outfit courtesy of a Raul Jimenez penalty.

The re-signing of Danish defender Joachim Andersen has transformed the defence and the West Londoners have only conceded five league goals in six games, the second least amount in the division.

Read – Manchester City predicted lineup vs Fulham

Last Meeting

Fulham 0-4 Manchester City, Premier League, 11th May 2024.

It was a one sided affair the last time the two clubs met as Manchester City swept aside a despondent Fulham in a 4-0 battering at Craven Cottage.

Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol was in a rich vein of goalscoring form at the time and the 22-year-old grabbed a ruthless brace to make it four goals in five league appearances.

In between the Gvardiol goals, Phil Foden drilled in past Bernd Leno to double the deficit and send Noel Gallagher and the rest of the City fans behind the goal into pandemonium.

The host’s misery was compounded in the dying embers as Issa Diop received a second yellow for chopping down Julian Alvarez and conceding a penalty, which the Argentine dispatched with aplomb to make it four.

That would end up being Alvarez’s final goal for City as he made the £81.5 million pound switch to Atletico Madrid last summer.

Just over a week later, the Citizens would lift the Premier League for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time after beating West Ham United 3-1 on the final day.

Read – Five Manchester City academy graduates thriving elsewhere

Predicted Lineups

Man City: Ederson, Dias, Stones, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Lewis, Doku, Silca, Foden, Savinho, Haaland

Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Berge, Pereira, Iwobi, Smith-Rowe, Traore, Jimenez

Read – Court rules Fifa’s transfer rules against EU law

Who is the referee?

Peter Bankes is the match official. He will be assisted by Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh, whilst the fourth official will be Oliver Langford. The VAR is Graham Scott and he will be assisted by Sian Massey-Ellis.