Fulham v Man City preview: Cottagers look to hold off title hopefuls
A top-half finish will most likely be the goal for Marco Silva’s team, a fine achievement considering their last three PL campaigns have ended in relegation.
Currently sat on the brink in tenth-place, the Cottagers might need to play smarter and not harder if they’re to at least stand their ground, with none of their last nine matches in all competitions ending in a draw, while six of them were defeats.
Craven Cottage could therefore be dreading the arrival of title-chasing Manchester City, whom they’ve failed to beat in their last ten home H2Hs (D3, L7).
City would possibly trade most of those wins for the full three-points here, as victory would finally see them summit the PL table after winning the potential title-decider 4-1 against Arsenal on Thursday.
They’ve wrestled back control of the league with that being their seventh PL win on the trot, showcasing their dominance with six of those coming by a margin of two or more goals.
It’s hard to imagine who can stop City winning the treble with an FA Cup final and UEFA Champions League semi-final on the horizon too.
Pep Guardiola will know history is in the making one game at a time, but with 15 of their 20 dropped points this PL campaign coming on the road, they shouldn’t be looking any further than the challenge Fulham pose to their potentially record-breaking surge.
Players to watch: Fulham’s Andreas Pereira scored in the 2-1 loss in the reverse fixture, contributing to him netting his side’s opener with six of his last eight goals.
But the name on everyone's lips is none other than City’s Erling Haaland, whose 33rd league strike of the season against Arsenal saw him break the record for the most PL goals in a 38-game campaign.
Hot stat: City have only lost one of their last 54 PL games when scoring first (W48, D1).
