Michael Plant explains why Manchester City should expect a difficult game this weekend against Fulham.
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00:00Next up for Manchester City in the Premier League is a home game against Fulham. I think
00:04it's probably going to be a real test for the Premier League champions. That's because
00:07Fulham are one of the most informed sides in the Premier League. They've picked up 11
00:11points from their last five games. That's a better record than City, better record than
00:16Arsenal and actually only Liverpool and Chelsea can better that record over the last five
00:20games. And I think that in the summer when Fulham lost Jao Pellinia, I think a lot of
00:23people thought they were going to be weaker as a result, but they've made some good additions
00:27in the transfer window. Emile Smith-Rowe from Arsenal has been a really astute signing.
00:31He's come in and had an immediate impact in that number 10 role. Joachim Andersen as well,
00:36the centre-back, has played really well. And they've got Raúl Jiménez, a player who I
00:39think is very popular in the Premier League given that serious injury he had a couple
00:42of years ago. But he's back scoring goals and it's been a really good start, as I say,
00:46for Fulham under the guise of Margot Silva, a manager who's very widely considered to
00:50be amongst the top managers in the Premier League. So they're going to come to City,
00:54certainly make it a difficult game, albeit I still do fancy City to take three points.
00:58To be honest with you, I tend to fancy City in most games. But Fulham have a particularly
01:02poor record against City. They've actually lost the last 16 meetings against City,
01:08which is a pretty remarkable record actually. And the last time they beat City was in 2009.
01:15Clint Dempsey among the goal scorers that day. So it was a long, long time ago that Fulham
01:19have managed to get a win against City. City come into the game though. I mean,
01:23the one advantage I would say for Fulham is that City obviously played midweek while Fulham
01:26had a full week to prepare for this game. But City looking pretty good at the moment,
01:31although the results are perhaps have dipped a little bit. They obviously drew a couple of
01:35games in the absence of Rodgerie against Arsenal, against Newcastle, the last two in the Premier
01:40League. But they're tough games. I mean, Arsenal, there's obviously no shame in drawing against
01:44them. And likewise, a trip to St James' Park is always going to be difficult. So there's
01:48no concern at the moment, even though they have dropped out of first place and into second.
01:51I think the question that is still surrounding City at the moment is just how they cope without
01:56Rodgerie. What is the formula that Pep Guardiola is going to cook up? I wrote an article in midweek
02:00saying that it's becoming increasingly clear for me and probably many others that Rico Lewis is
02:04going to be central to those plans. A player who was very in and out of the team last season,
02:08but just looks like a player you really can't, City can't afford to drop at the moment. He's
02:12playing so well at the moment. I think Ilkay Gundogan could potentially drop out of the team
02:17this week. Matteo Kovacic coming in. Gundogan was back amongst the goalies in midweek, but
02:21didn't have a good game last time out against Newcastle. I think Kovacic, who was rested
02:25in the 4-0 win against Slovan Bratislava, could come into the team. And I also think Phil Foden
02:29as well could be onto the first Premier League start of the season. He's picked up a little bit
02:32of form in the last couple of games, which is good for City, really big boost for them.
02:38And yeah, an important game for City ahead of the October international break. I think Arling
02:42Haaland as well will obviously be spotlight on him, as there always is. He scored three goals,
02:46so he's scored in three of the four fixtures he's played against Fulham,
02:50including a hat-trick in the last meeting. So yeah, the game will be covered on Manchester
02:54World. I'm really looking forward to two good sides ahead of the international break,
02:58and yeah, I'm expecting a few goals at the Etihad.