Man City vs Fulham: Prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds

Evening Standard

·3 October 2024

Man City vs Fulham: Prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds

Champions have dropped points in successive top-flight matches ahead of Etihad return

Manchester City will be eager to get back to winning ways in the Premier League when they host Fulham this weekend.

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While Pep Guardiola’s undefeated side demolished Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in the new-look Champions League in midweek, they have now dropped points in back-to-back top-flight matches to give rise to hope to the likes of title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool.

City sit a point behind the Reds - who travel to winless Crystal Palace for the early Saturday kick-off - heading into the weekend after needing a last-gasp equaliser to avoid a damaging home defeat by 10-man Arsenal, while a narrower-than-expected Carabao Cup third-round win over Championship side Watford was followed by a controversial 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

Hoping to take advantage of a City side rocked by the absence of influential midfielder Rodri for the rest of the season and still without captain Kevin De Bruyne is Marco Silva’s Fulham, who have started the season in very encouraging fashion and sit only three points behind their opponents in sixth after winning three and losing only one of their first six matches - seeing off both Newcastle and in-form Nottingham Forest after losing an epic penalty shootout to Preston in the Carabao Cup.

Date, kick-off time and venue

Manchester City vs Fulham is scheduled for a 3pm BST kick-off time on Saturday October 5, 2024.

The match will take place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Where to watch Man City vs Fulham

TV channel and live stream: The game will not be televised live in the UK as it lands during the 3pm Saturday TV blackout still observed across English football.

Highlights: The Sky Sports app and YouTube channel will show highlights from 5:15pm, with Match of the Day broadcasting on BBC One at 10:30pm on Saturday night.

Man City vs Fulham team news

Guardiola now hopes that skipper De Bruyne will be back after the upcoming international break, with the Belgian having missed the last four matches with a groin injury suffered in the goalless Champions League draw with Inter Milan last month.

Rodri is done for the season after knee surgery, while Nathan Ake (hamstring) and Oscar Bobb (leg fracture) remain sidelined too.

Wait continues: Manchester City have yet to get captain Kevin De Bruyne back from injury

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Fulham have a relatively clean bill of health at the moment, though striker Carlos Vinicius is sidelined with a calf injury and summer signing Jorge Cuenca has an ankle issue.

Man City vs Fulham prediction

Back-to-back Premier League draws is hardly panic stations from a City perspective, but it’s certainly well below their usual sky-high standards and they won’t want to lose any more ground in the early title battle with both Liverpool and Arsenal currently full of confidence.

Fulham will head to the Etihad boosted by their extremely optimistic start to the season, though you fear they could have to weather a ferocious storm from the outset as the hosts look to build on their Champions League exploits in Slovakia and reassert some domestic dominance.

Silva’s side certainly won’t roll over, but City are an absolute juggernaut on home soil and should have more than enough to get the job done comfortably here.

Fulham have not beaten Manchester City in any competition since all the way back in April 2009, when Clint Dempsey scored twice in a 3-1 comeback win at the Etihad.

City have won 19 of the 22 contests since then, including 16 in a row to make clear the sheer scale of the task facing the Cottagers this weekend.

Man City wins: 41

Fulham wins: 17

Draws: 16