From the side that began our impressive midweek 4-1 win against Arsenal in midweek, Kevin De Bruyne is absent from the matchday squad with the Belgian not fully fit.
Meanwhile Bernardo Silva, who also started against the Gunners, reverts to the bench.
Teams
FULHAM: Leno, Tete, Ream (C), Tosin, Robinson, Reed, Palhinha, Andreas, Decordova-Reid, Vinicius, Wilson.
Subs: Rodak, Duffy, Cedric, Diop, Cairney, Lukic, Kebano, Solomon, James.
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), Mahrez, Grealish, Alvarez, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Bernardo, Gomez, Perrone, Foden, Lewis.
Tactics
Ederson will be a familiar figure in goal and looks likely to be shielded by a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji
As usual, Rodrigo will be the reassuring holding midfield pivot with skipper Ilkay Gundogan also in the engine room and, potentially, Julian Alvarez playing slightly deeper behind the front three.
Up front, City look likely to field an attacking triumvirate with Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez operating on either flank with Erling Haaland the central attacking focal point.
However, such is City’s tactical flexibility and fluidity, our shape and set-up could be subject to change once the game gets underway with Stones able to be deployed in midfield to great effect!
Eyes on the prize
Amongst the myriad incentives this afternoon, City will kick off in the knowledge that victory would move us back to the top of the table for the first time since February 17.
Last Wednesday’s superb 4-1 win at home to leaders Arsenal put the destiny of the Premier League title race firmly in our own hands.
City will kick off in west London two points behind the Gunners but with two crucial games in hand on Mikel Arteta’s side.
With Arsenal not in action again until Tuesday night when they play host to Chelsea, it means City have the opportunity to kick on once again in our drive for what would be a third consecutive league title – and a fifth Premier League crown in six years.
It will be another tough task task at Craven Cottage as Marco Silva’s side have hugely impressed on their return to the top flight this term.
But City will go into the game on the back of a run of seven straight league wins – our best Premier League sequence since winning 12 in a row between November 2021 and January 2022.
And armed with the confidence that we are in a rich vein of form at this the most crucial juncture of the campaign.
Match stats
Fulham are winless in their last 15 Premier League meetings with City (D3 L12) since a 3-1 away win in April 2009. They’ve lost the last 10 in a row by an aggregate score of 28-4.
City have won our last 13 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, only winning more consecutively against Watford (15 – 2013-2022) and West Brom (14 – 2012-2018) in their history.
Fulham have kept just one clean sheet in their 29 Premier League games against City, a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium in March 2004. Only Middlesbrough (15 against Man Utd) have played more Premier League home games against an opponent without ever keeping a clean sheet than Fulham’s 14 against City.
Fulham have lost five of their last seven Premier League games (W2), more than they had in their previous 16 (W8 D4 L4). Having kept a clean sheet in five of their first nine league games following the World Cup break (4 goals conceded), the Cottagers have now conceded in each of their last eight (13 goals conceded).
City have won our last three Premier League away games, last winning more consecutively between October and January last season (7).
City manager Pep Guardiola has won 25 of his 38 Premier League away games against London sides, the highest win rate of any visiting manager to take charge of at least 10 such games (66%). All eight of his defeats in the capital have come against either Tottenham (5) or Chelsea (3).
De Bruyne has been involved in seven goals in his last four Premier League appearances (3 goals, 4 assists), assisting in all four games. It’s the fourth time he’s assisted in four games in a row, with no City player ever doing so in five consecutive appearances in the competition.
Erling Haaland has scored 33 Premier League goals for Manchester City this season, a record by a player in a 38-game season. He is one away from equalling the overall record in a season, set by Andrew Cole in 1993-94 and Alan Shearer in 1994-95 (34 goals) in 42-game campaigns. This will be his 30th appearance in the competition, with his 33 goals already more than 21 teams managed in total in their first 30 Premier League games.
Jack Grealish has scored four goals and provided five assists in 12 Premier League away games for Man City this season, with only Erling Haaland (12) and Kevin De Bruyne (10) being involved in more. He’s averaging a goal or assist every 100 minutes on the road this term, the best ratio of any Man City player.
