Manchester City vs Fulham

BPL 2018-19 – Manchester City vs Fulham Match Preview

This shapes up to be an entertaining one! High flying champions Manchester City will look to pick up another win as they host an exciting promoted Fulham side who have hit some good attacking form! City are the massive favourites but could Fulham pull off a shock and get something out of here?

Key Facts

Manchester City are currently the top scoring side in the Premier League with 11. They already scored 8 goals at home in 2 games. They averaged just over 3 goals per game at home last season and they’ve picked up where they left from this season.

Benjamin Mendy has shown immense form going forward from the LB position for City so far this season with 4 assists in 4 games. He’s tied at the top for assists with Holebas.

Manchester City have shown lapses defensively this season so far by conceding a goal in 3 straight games to Huddersfield, Wolves and Newcastle. They failed to keep a clean sheet at home in both games this season.

Aguero is City’s current top scorer with 3, all 3 of his goals came against Huddersfield

Fulham are one of the most entertaining teams in the Premier League so far. Their games average 4 goals per game (7:9 GD). Most recently they beat Burnley 4-2 and drew 2-2 with Brighton. Solid going forward, leaky at the back.

Fulham’s striker Mitrovic is tied top scorer in the Premier League with Mane with 4 goals. Mitrovic has gotten on the scoresheet in 3 straight games.

3 of the 4 Fulham’s games this season had an over 3.5 goals mark hit.

Fulham have already faced one of the big 6 and lost 3-1 to Tottenham away from home. They were competitive however.

Team News

Manchester City: Man City are still going to be without de Bruyne and back up keeper Claudio Bravo with long term injuries. Also another injury doubt is Raheem Sterling who picked up a knock on England duty during the international break so we could potentially see Leroy Sane make his first start of the season. As for de Bruyne’s replacement, City have Bernardo, Gundogan, D.Silva to start in the midfield so that’s covered up. We’ve seen Pep play different teams and formations so far this season. At home he tends to play 3 at the back and go all out attack while away from home he gets a little cautious with a 4 at the back formation. We could very well see an all out attack side here for this game given Fulham’s poor defensive record, however don’t rule out reverting to 4 at the back since Fulham are far more of a threat than Huddersfield and Newcastle this season. We won’t really know about the formation until the game starts. Expect City to dominate and control the game though as they always do regardless of the formation they play.

Fulham: Fulham are still going to be without Tom Cairney after he got himself injured against Burnley. Tim Ream is also still out. However, Alfie Mawson has returned for Fulham before the international break and is expected to feature here against Man City. In terms of Tom Carney replacement, the new signing Anguissa will probably start again after taking Cairney’s spot against Brighton. We can expect Fulham to be a threat in this game against City due to their good attacking talent, but their defensive record is a massive worry coming up against the high scoring City side. Fulham’s biggest key is to sort out the backline or otherwise they will be put to bed real quick by City. Mitrovic is the key man to watch out going forward of course as he’s scored in 3 straight games including at Tottenham away.

Betting Tips and Predictions

We obviously see a Manchester City win here but with the odds of 1.13 it’s not worth the risk unless you want a massive accumulator which is also not worth it. Manchester City separate over 3.5 goals at 2.20 is our pick. Fulham are very leaky defensively (9 goals in 4 games) which is just about 2 goals per game conceded and they haven’t even faced that good a sides other than Spurs. If Burnley and Brighton can put 2 past Fulham then surely City can put 4 or more past them. City have been a little slowed down going forward against Wolves and Newcastle so it’s time for them to go put on a show again like they did against Huddersfield. Fulham are a good footballing side and they may score one or two themselves here which is why we won’t touch any City handicaps. As a whole this game has the potential to be very high scoring. City’s games average nearly 4 goals a game, Fulham’s games average 4 goals per game which can only mean that when they meet it will be a fantastic game of football. BTTS – Yes at 1.90 is another pick that’s worth the look. We’re looking at a 4-1 Man City win.

Match Odds (TonyBet)

Manchester City Win – 1.13

Draw – 10.25

Fulham Win – 23.00

KICK OFF – 15th September 2018 – 3pm UK Time