Manchester City return to Premier League action on Saturday night as they take on relegation-threatened Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Pep Guardiola’s side bounced back from defeat in the Manchester derby with an emphatic 5-2 win against Southampton in midweek, with Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne both scoring twice, whilst Ilkay Gundogan returned to the scoresheet.
Fulham have shown a lot of fight in recent weeks and picked up another impressive three points last weekend, with Mario Lemina’s goal earning them a 1-0 win at Anfield.
After making changes against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, it seems likely that there will be plenty more rotation from Guardiola for the game against Scott Parker’s men, especially with the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Borussia Monchengladbach to come on Tuesday.
Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Spanish manager to line his side up in west London, with Guardiola making four changes from the team which started in midweek…
Ederson has failed to keep a clean sheet in his last four games now so he’ll be hoping to rectify that at Craven Cottage, as he starts in between the sticks.
Will City win tonight?
Yes
No
There are two changes in defence, as Joao Cancelo returns to the side after being rested in midweek, with the “special” Portuguese international having been one of City’s best performers this season.
John Stones also returns in place of Aymeric Laporte, as he and Ruben Dias still look like City’s most solid centre-back partnership.
After featuring in midweek, Fernandinho is perhaps unlikely to start again against Fulham, so Rodri comes in as his replacement.
Raheem Sterling also returns to the side in place of Phil Foden on the left-hand side after he was rested against Southampton, and hopefully his pace can cause Fulham problems on Saturday. The 20-year-old may get the evening off after playing the full 90 minutes against the Saints.
After impressive performances in midweek, Mahrez and De Bruyne keep their place in attack, supported by Bernardo Silva in a false nine role, where he can easily interchange with his Belgian, English and Algerian teammates.
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