Manchester City vs Fulham preview, team news, tickets & prediction

Table of Contents

Fulham make the long trip to Manchester to face the Premier League champions in what will surely be their most difficult away game of the 2024/25 season.

Manchester City are at home to Fulham in a fixture that has heavily gone their way over the last few years. Hence, the focus will be on seeing out a comfortable victory and coming away with the maximum points.

Fulham were destroyed 5-1 in the corresponding fixture last season thanks to a hat-trick from Erling Haaland. City's dominance of their previous head-to-head clashes has been flawless, with their two league fixtures last term reading a 9-1 aggregate scoreline.

Manchester City start another season as the team to beat and Pep Guardiola must continue to harness the overwhelming position of strength they find themselves in. Having won the Premier League in six of the last seven seasons, opponents go into each season knowing they stand little chance against this football juggernaut.

It is left to the chasing pack to catch up, and to continue to win, their manager must bolster the competitive edge in his squad with some smart signings in the summer transfer window.

The Spaniard is carefully scrutinising the kinds of players that can improve his side after they won the league title for a fourth consecutive season but were beaten in the FA Cup final and failed to retain the Champions League.

Indeed, the Cityzens haven't lost a top-flight match since December 6 against Aston Villa, and they will be keen to assert their credentials early on this season.

For Fulham, they are in dire need of a boost after an underwhelming campaign last term, hence, a good transfer window should sort out some teething issues.

Marco Silva's team struggled for goals following Aleksandar Mitrovic's departure, as Raul Jimenez failed to rediscover his best form but Rodrigo Muniz surprisingly stepped up in the centre-forward position. Fulham also lost a lot of the solidity that marked them out in the previous season and specific adjustments need to be made.

The Cottagers could only manage a 13th-placed finish and they must work towards improving their fortunes in order to aim higher.

Fulham's campaign kicks off at Manchester United on 16 August and they have a good run of fixtures thereafter that allows them to build momentum ahead of the City game. While few will give them a chance at the Etihad Stadium, they will be desperate to cause an unlikely upset.

Match tickets

This Premier League fixture takes place on Saturday, 5 October 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 3 PM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on each club's website but note that season ticket holders and club members will be given priority consideration.

The Etihad Stadium will be lively for the visit of Fulham and we can be sure there will be no spare seats at the 53,000-capacity arena. Given their outstanding success and dynamic football over the years, City are a must-watch and their home games are constantly sold out.

Hence, supporters must purchase their tickets early while those who are yet to find Man City vs Fulham tickets can check on a resale site.

Team news

City have been relatively slow in the transfer market so far, with Brazilian winger Savinho the only player to join, but one man whose future is uncertain is Julian Alvarez. The Argentine striker is growing frustrated with a lack of game time and has been linked with a way out of the Etihad Stadium, while City are set to demand £60million for the 24-year-old.

Meanwhile, the Sky Blues remain in the race to sign highly-rated Benfica midfielder Joao Neves this summer and they will also rival Barcelona for the signature of Dani Olmo.

Fulham have been quiet in the transfer window as they are yet to make any signings despite losing Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer and Joao Palhinha on a £47.4million move to Bayern Munich. These two departures will leave large gaps in their centre of defence and defensive midfield positions, but some transfer activity is expected in the coming weeks.

The Cottagers are interested in Scott McTominay who is likely to leave Manchester United this summer, and they will have little problem paying up for targets when they become available.

Fulham are also close to reaching an agreement with Arsenal for the services of Emile Smith Rowe over a transfer worth up to £35million, which would represent a record fee for Fulham and match Arsenal's biggest sale.

Line-ups

Phil Foden was the star of City's show last season as he was crowned the Premier League's Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year after 19 goals and eight assists in 35 league outings.

Erling Haaland is one to keep an eye on following his treble last season at the Etihad where he has a healthy goalscoring record. The onus will be on the Norwegian to punish Fulham's defence with the exquisite service that comes his way.

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Silva, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland

Fulham continue to work on transfer dealings and their strongest team on matchday will be much different from the one at the time of writing. Considering their targets so far, their starting 11 would resemble something close to this.

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Bassey, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Iwobi; Wilson, Cairney, Smith Rowe; Muniz

Prediction

It is extremely difficult to back against a fully fit Man City side that is firing on all cylinders and hungry for more top-flight glory when they host the Cottagers. The Citizens have scored at least twice in each of their last 17 meetings against Fulham, and they will find joy in the final third once again.

The Cityzens are heavy favourites for this game having won their last 15 games against Fulham and are unbeaten in 21 previous meetings, since a 3-1 win for the Cottagers in April 2009.

Manchester City 4-0 Fulham

Get new posts by email: