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Manchester City is back in action this Saturday facing Fulham a team desperate for points at the bottom of the league standings.
City are fresh off a visit to Portugal Tuesday where they drew 0-0 with Porto to clinch first in their Champions League group.
Pep Guardiola’s squad is riding high having gone unbeaten in their last five fixtures in all competitions at Etihad stadium.
Team News
Guardiola’s side seems to be getting healthier as we approach the holiday break.
Sergio Aguero is the only question mark with a hamstring problem that’s caused him to miss the team’s last two matches.
Scott Parker’s Cottagers side may still be without the services of defenders Kenny Tete and Terence Kongolo through injury.
What to Watch For
Rookie manager Scott Parker’s first taste of the Premier League has been anything but memorable for the ex-Fulham midfielder.
At the back American Tim Ream is the driving force with very effective carries and strong in the air.
His partnership with Michael Hector proved to be solid a year ago as the club was promoted back into the top-flight.
With two goals and two assists striker, Aleksandar Mitrovic is the main danger threat in a team that like City has struggled to score goals this season with only 11 in 10 games.
They’re a team that can have nice fluidity in attack at times but they lack consistency.
The Cottagers seem to rely heavily on getting the ball out wide.
They’re fourth in the league in crosses this season with 202.
Cleaning Up
On paper, City has a decided edge in goal.
Ederson’s got three straight clean sheets in all competitions, having not conceded since the 65th minute of their defeat to Tottenham.
If you look at the season overall Ederson and City’s defence collectively have been pretty stingy for the most part.
They’ve conceded more than one goal only twice all season in the Premier League, Champions League, and the Carabao Cup.
It’s safe to say the current loan-spell for Fulham’s Alphonse Areola hasn’t worked out as they’d hoped.
The third-string keeper for France’s World Cup-winning side of 2018 has had a rough go of it in the Premier League.
In nine appearances this season Areola’s conceded 16 times.
Fulham leads the league in goals conceded with 19 from 10 games.
Current Form
City appears to be back to winning ways after suffering a setback at Tottenham a couple of weeks ago.
They’re unbeaten in their last three since then across all competitions.
Fulham hopes to play the role of giant killers once again after they edged Leicester City 2-1 last week.
The Cottagers are in a dog fight to stay out of the relegation zone, just a point ahead of West Bromwich Albion for a bottom three spot.
Lately, they’ve shown signs of improvement with two wins in their past four fixtures.
Four of Fulham’s seven points this season have come away from Craven Cottage.
Head to Head
Lately, City’s had their way with Fulham winning the last nine matchups between the two.
The last time the Cottagers won against the Blues goes back to April 2009 when they beat them 2-1.
Fulham hasn’t scored against City in five straight matches against them.
Match Info
Saturday’s match kicks off at 3 pm from Etihad stadium. (JSL)
