Man City vs Fulham Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 English Premier League
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It is one of those classic Saturday afternoon clashes at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City tend to rack up their goals and points tallies but Pep Guardiola’s side are taking on an impressive Fulham side this time around.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 5th October, 2024 - UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – Peacock
MAN CITY PREVIEW: SECURE CITY
Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side are going to challenge for all four trophies this season and they do seem to have a bit more depth than they have had in recent seasons, too. City, despite making several changes, romped to a 4-0 hammering of Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
The hosts come into this one on the back of a 1-1 draw in the Premier League, though, as they were held by Newcastle United at St James’ Park last weekend. They had started the season with four successive victories before their 2-2 draw against Arsenal and then that aforementioned point against the Magpies.
FULHAM PREVIEW: FUN, FLUENT FULHAM
Under the management of Marco Silva, who has just been nominated for the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for September, Fulham are enjoying a really impressive start to the season with a five-match unbeaten run of form since they suffered a late loss to Manchester United on the opening day of the season.
The Cottagers come into this one on the back of back-to-back victories against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. After defeating Newcastle by three goals to one at Craven Cottage, they then went and won by a goal to nil at previously unbeaten Forest with a winner scored by Raul Jimenez from the penalty spot.
MAN CITY TEAM NEWS: AKE & KDB BOTH OUT
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that both Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne remain unavailable for this weekend's visit of Fulham as they try and push to return to fitness after the October international break.
There are a couple of other players sidelined for the long-term, too, with key man Rodri out for the season and Oscar Bobb recovering from a broken leg he suffered just before the start of the season.
PREDICTED XI (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic; Silva, Gundogan, Foden, Grealish; Haaland
UNAVAILABLE: Ake (Injured), Rodri (Injured), De Bruyne (Injured), Bobb (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
FULHAM TEAM NEWS: COUPLE OF ISSUES
Throughout last season, Fulham had more or less a fully fit and available squad with very few injury issues and that is the case once again but Marco Silva does have a couple of issues to deal with.
Summer signing Jorge Cuenca, who joined from Villarreal a couple of months ago, is unavailable for this weekend alongside former Tottenham Hotspur striker Carlos Vinicius.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Pereira, Lukic; Adama Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Raul Jimenez
UNAVAILABLE: Jorge Cuenca (Injured), Carlos Vinicius (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
MAN CITY VS FULHAM PREDICTION
Manchester City looked a little shaky in transition last month against Newcastle United and teams that counter-attack well will look to exploit the absence of Rodri. Fulham are indeed one of those teams that have all of the attributes to counter well. City remain overwhelming favourites and should still win quite comfortably but it could be quite a fun match with both teams scoring looking a good bet.
MAN CITY VS FULHAM TIP: MAN CITY TO WIN & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE