Manchester City welcome Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, looking to extend their winning streak at the Etihad Stadium to 15 games in all competitions.
The Citizens are presently second in the rankings, two points behind champions Arsenal, while the Cottagers are seventh, five points below the top four.
Match preview
After securing a slender 1-0 victory away at Leicester City last weekend, courtesy of a stunning Kevin De Bruyne free kick, Man City capped off their Champions League group-stage campaign with a 3-1 success at home against Sevilla on Wednesday.
In what was a dead rubber fixture for the Citizens, who had already qualified for the last 16 as Group A winners, Rafa Mir headed the visitors in front before half time, but 17-year-old Rico Lewis equalised on his full debut – breaking a Champions League record in the process – before Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez completed the comeback to keep the Sky Blues unbeaten in this season’s competition.
The West Londoners have lost each of their last nine Premier League meetings against Man City, failing to score in their last five, and they have also won just two of their 15 top-flight away matches against reigning champions, although they did secure a 1-0 win in their most recent such meeting against Liverpool in March 2021.
In addition, three of Fulham’s four Premier League victories against Man City have come at the Etihad – most recently a 3-1 win in April 2009 – which bodes well for Silva and co heading into Saturday’s contest.
Team News
Guardiola is hopeful that Erling Braut Haaland will be fit to lead the line for Man City on Saturday; the Norwegian striker has missed the last two games with ankle ligament damage and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
After making seven changes against Sevilla, Guardiola is expected to recall a number of his first-team regulars, with De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva all set to start in midfield.
Centre-back Manuel Akanji missed training earlier this week and was not involved on Wednesday, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday’s game and could return to the back four along with Joao Cancelo, John Stones and Nathan Ake, who were all benched in midweek.
As for Fulham, Silva is forced to make at least two changes to his starting lineup, as makeshift right-back Bobby Decordova-Reid is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Neeskens Kebano is ruled out for “several months” with a ruptured Achilles.
Kenny Tete recovered from injury to feature as a substitute last weekend and the Dutchman is the most likely candidate to replace Decordova-Reid at right-back, joining Issa Diop, Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson in the back four.
Possible starting lineup:
| Man City | Fulham |
|---|---|
| Ederson | Leno, Bernd |
| Cancelo, Joao | Ream, Tim |
| Dias, Ruben | Robinson, Antonee |
| Akanji, Manuel | Adarabioyo, Tosin |
| Rodri | Tete, Kenny |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Reed, Harrison |
| Silva, Bernardo | Pereira, Andreas |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Palhinha, Joao |
| Foden, Phil | Kebano, Neeskens |
| Haaland, Erling | Reid, Bobby |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Mitrovic, Aleksandar |
Probabilities
Man City = 65.7%
Draw = 15.6%
Fulham = 18.7%
Prediction
Man City 3-1 Fulham
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