Manchester City V Fulham Preview: Premier League Football

Manchester City v Fulham

Sunday 25 October 2009, City of Manchester Stadium

English Premier League Football

Kick-Off: 15:00

Manchester City

Mark Hughes will hope that his side can return to winning ways in Sunday afternoon's Manchester City vs Fulham match.

Whilst Man City have not lost in over a month, their two recent 1-1 draws against Aston Villa and Wigan have been mediocre performances in comparison to their upbeat start.

In fact, the recent draw with Wigan could easily have turned sour for Manchester City if Wigan had been more clinical in their finishing.

After falling behind late in the first half, Martin Petrov fired home an equaliser to start the second half before Pablo Zabaleta was dismissed for his second bookable offence in the 65th minute.

From that moment on, Manchester City was reduced to hanging onto a point, and despite finding themselves in good positions to score on numerous occasions, Wigan couldn’t find a winner.

Zabaleta will be suspended for this Man City v Fulham fixture and the slim chance of a Robinho return has been ruled out due to a setback in the Brazilian playmaker’s rehabilitation of an ankle injury.

However, both Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor are hopeful for a return to the starting squad from injury for this Man City - Fulham meeting, which would give Manchester City some much-needed firepower in their frontline.

Fulham

Fulham will be playing their third match in six days on Sunday when they make the trip to face Manchester City.

In a week that started positively with a 2-0 win against Hull, the Cottagers conceded a late equaliser to Roma in the dying moments of their Europa Cup match on Thursday.

Brede Hangeland had given the hosts a 1-0 lead, but when Stephen Kelly was sent off in the 76th minute, Roma were given the opportunity to get back in the game.

Jeremy Menez failed to score from the spot following Kelly’s challenge, but Marco Andreolli made sure that the Italians didn’t leave empty-handed with his 90th minute equaliser.

Fulham’s team featured a number of changes, most notably Danny Murphy’s omission from his normal midfield post. The former England midfielder is struggling to shake off and injury and is questionable for Sunday’s match, as is Andrew Johnson who now looks to miss out on Man City v Fulham.

Prediction

The Cottagers have an extremely positive record in past Man City v Fulham meetings, with three of the last four meetings at the City of Manchester Stadium ending in Fulham victories.

Last season's two league meetings saw Man City - Fulham at the City of Manchester Stadium end in a 3-1 win for the Londoners, whilst the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage ended in a 1-1 draw.

While Manchester City will be favoured coming in, the match will likely be a close affair.

Fulham’s hectic schedule, however, could catch up with them on Sunday and give City a bigger edge than they would normally have.

Man City v Fulham Prediction: Manchester City 1 - Fulham 0

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And don't forget to read our other previews including Liverpool vs Man Utd as well as Arsenal vs West Ham and finally Barcelona vs Real Zaragoza.