Match Preview
Manchester City versus Fulham
Premiership Match Day 07 24/25 at Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Saturday 5th October 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Peter Bankes (Lancashire)
|
Fulham visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon aiming to extend their five game unbeaten run while Manchester City will be seeking to avoid going three consecutive Premier League games without a victory.
Fulham have made their best start to a Premier League season since 2003, accumulating 11 points from their opening six matches to help them rise to sixth in the table, just three points behind Man City in second.
Since losing to Manchester United on the opening weekend of the new season, the Cottagers have put together a five-game unbeaten run in the top flight, winning their last two matches against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.
Raul Jimenez scored his 50th Premier League goal and his third in as many games - netting from the penalty spot five minutes after half time - to help Fulham secure a slender 1-0 win at Forest last weekend.
However, the Mexican landed himself in hot water after he snatched the ball off teammate and designated penalty-taker Andreas Pereira, something that is "not going to happen again" under the tutelage of head coach Marco Silva, who has revealed that Jimenez has since apologised.
That incident has quickly been nipped in the bud by Fulham, who are now gearing up for a daunting trip to Man City this weekend. Having said that, the Cottagers have registered three of their four Premier League wins over the Citizens at the Etihad, most recently winning 3-1 in April 2009 under Roy Hodgson.
After being held to their second successive Premier League draw by Newcastle United (1-1) last weekend, Manchester City bounced back with a totally dominant 4-0 win away against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
City had 28 attempts on goal, 73% possession and hit the woodwork three times in the first half of a one-sided contest, but goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James McAtee - the latter scoring his first senior goal - eventually helped the Citizens pick up their first three points in the newly-expanded Champions League.
Manager Pep Guardiola believes that his team "are improving step-by-step" in how they attack and he was particularly pleased to see his squad come away from Slovakia unscathed, while a number of players also got valuable first-team minutes under their belts.
Man City have one final Premier League fixture at home to Fulham before the international break and they could slip four points behind leaders Liverpool if the Reds beat Crystal Palace in the early kickoff before Guardiola's men take on the Cottagers.
The reigning champions will fancy their chances of success on Saturday, as they have won each of their last 16 meetings with Fulham across all competitions - the longest winning run one team has had over another in English football league history. Should City merely avoid defeat, they would extend their remarkable unbeaten home record to 50 games.
|
-
Three of Fulham’s four Premier League wins against Manchester City have come at the Etihad Stadium (2006, 2008 and 2009). However, they’re winless in their last 18 against them in the league (D3 L15), losing each of the last 13 in a row.
-
Manchester City have won each of their last 16 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, the longest winning run one English league side has had against another in history.
-
Manchester City have won a penalty in each of their last six Premier League meetings with Fulham, the longest run one side has had against another in the competition’s history. The Citizens have scored all six of these spot kicks in this run.
-
Since losing their opening Premier League game of the season 1-0 at Man Utd, Fulham are now unbeaten in their last five (W3 D2). They last had a longer run without defeat in the competition between August and October 2010 (7).
-
Only Dwight McNeil (21) has created more chances than Fulham’s Andreas Pereira in the Premier League this season (20). Five of these chances have been for Rodrigo Muniz, who has had more shots on target without scoring so far than any other player in the Premier League this term (5).
-
Man City have drawn their last two Premier League games despite opening the scoring in both (2-2 v Arsenal, 1-1 v Newcastle). The last time they failed to win three consecutive league games despite scoring first in each was in December/January in 2003-04 (D2 L1).
-
Man City are unbeaten in their last 29 Premier League games (W23 D6), and if they avoid defeat in this match it will equal their longest run without defeat in their league history (30 games between April 2017 and January 2018).
-
Erling Haaland has scored 60 goals in just 52 games in all competitions at the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City. He’s already the fourth-highest goalscorer at the ground since it opened in 2003.
`
`
Source Oliver Thomas at SportsMole/BBC Sports