Manchester City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night looking to bounce back from their mid-week loss to Everton. The 1-0 reverse at Goodison Park on Tuesday allowed Manchester United to draw level on points with City at the top of the Barclays Premier League. But with United travelling to Chelsea only on Sunday, City can regain their three-point lead for at least 24 hours. The Cottagers drew 1-1 at home to West Brom on Wednesday as they began life after Bobby Zamora.
Fulham historically have a very poor away record in the Premier League and they have in fact won only four of their last 48 games on the road. But they have enjoyed a three-point return from three of their last six trips to the Eastlands. The last time Man City defeated Fulham at home was back in 2006 while City dropped their first points this season at the 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage in September.
Man City
Roberto Mancini’s side have been feeling the pressure lately as they have looked a pale shadow of the self-assured outfit that broke out of the traps at the start of the season. The worrying factor for the Italian will be City’s wretched form away from home which has seen them win only one of their last six games on the road. In fact, since the famous 6-1 victory at Old Trafford, they have won only two away games, at QPR and Wigan, with a grand total of 8 points from seven games.
For all the millions that have been splashed on personnel, City find themselves out of the Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup and like their rivals United, the Premier League will make or break their season. The gaping hole left by Yaya Toure has had a much bigger impact than expected, with their recent tepid performances clearly lacking the drive offered by the big Ivorian. The team has also looked bereft of ideas when opponents have succeeded in shackling them, depending far too heavily on David Silva to create some magic.
The fine margins of the title race are such that City can ill-afford further slip-ups, especially with Sir Alex Ferguson smelling blood. IF Jermain Defoe had put away his chance last week, City would have been down in 3rd place by now. Anything but a maximum return from games against Fulham, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Bolton in the coming weeks will be considered a failure.
Fulham
Martin Jol saw his Fulham side surrender a one-goal lead at Craven Cottage on Wednesday as West Brom hit-back with a late goal. Their 8th draw of the season meant that Fulham hadn’t won back-to-back games all season. They have been wildly inconsistent this season, securing an astonishing 5-2 victory over Newcastle a week after being thrashed 3-1 by Blackburn. They are nine points off the relegation zone in 13th, but they are also well off the European places, with 7th placed Arsenal 10 points ahead.
One of the club’s biggest problems this season has been the lack of goals as they have relied heavily on Clint Dempsey. He is the only Fulham player to have entered double figures this season, with 10 of Fulham’s 29 Premier League goals coming courtesy of the American. Hence, the departure of Bobby Zamora is expected to place further strain on Dempsey’s shoulder, until Andy Johnson returns from injury and new recruit Pavel Pogrebnyak settles into the Premier League.
Fulham were dealt a blow against West Brom on Wednesday as Steve Sidwell picked up a hernia injury and is now expected to be out for more than a month. Mark Schwarzer is still on the treatment table and so is Andy Johnson.
Head-to-Head:
18th Sept, 2011: Fulham 2-2 Man City
27th Feb, 2011: Man City 1-1 Fulham
Form Guide:
Man City: LDWWL
31st Jan, 2012: Everton 1-0 Man City
25th Jan, 2012: Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Carling Cup)
22nd Jan, 2012: Man City 3-2 Tottenham
16th Jan, 2012: Wigan 0-1 Man City
11th Jan, 2012: Man City 0-1 Liverpool (Carling Cup)
Fulham: DLWLW
1st Feb, 2012: Fulham 1-1 West Brom
27th Jan, 2012: Everton 2-1 Fulham (FA Cup)
21st Jan, 2012: Fulham 5-2 Newcastle
14th Jan, 2012: Blackburn 3-1 Fulham
7th Jan, 2012: Fulham 4-0 Charlton (FA Cup)
Probable Line-Ups:
Man City (4-4-1-1): Hart (Gk), Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Milner, Barry, Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko
Mancini doesn’t have too many options to shuffle his pack around, so expect James Milner and Gareth Barry to control the centre of midfield while David Silva stitches up the play for Edin Dzeko and Sergio Ageuro in attack. The other spot on the wing will be filled by either Adam Johnson or Samir Nasri. In defence, Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott will continue in the centre while Micah Richards & Aleksander Kolarov are expected to occupy the full-back slots.
Fulham (4-5-1): Stockdale (Gk), Kelly, Senderos, Hangelaand, Riise, Duff, Murphy, Davies, Ruiz, Frei, Dempsey
The loss of Sidwell is massive as Martin Jol is now left with Simon Davies and Danny Murphy as his only two central midfielders. Damien Duff and Bryan Ruiz will be the starting wide-players and Dempsey will start as the lone striker while Kerim Frei might be the extra man in midfield. At the back, Stephen Kelly, Philippe Senderos, Brede Hangelaand and John Arne Riise will start ahead of David Stockdale in goal.
Prediction: Predicting a clash between a team which is yet to drop a point at home and a traditionally poor traveller seems like a no-brainer. But Fulham have caused City problems in recent times, with the hosts winning only 3 of the last ten meetings between the two sides. Five of those meetings have ended in a draw, all of which were scored draws.
Predicted Score: Man City 2-1 Fulham
(TheSportsCampus)
