Manchester City look to go into the international break with a 100% record as the entertain Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
The blues have won all three of their opening fixtures and face a Cottagers side that has very much had mixed fortunes at the start of the new campaign.
Fulham will be looking solidify their place in the Premier League after finishing 10th in the first season back in the top flight. Here, we take an in-depth look at the Cottagers form, star players and the team in general.
Form
Like City, Fulham have played three matches and have won, drawn and lost one each. The Cottagers got their season off to a great start with a 1-0 win at Everton on the opening day, however, they succumbed to a heavy 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Brentford.
Last weekend, Fulham took the lead at Arsenal in the opening minutes, but a penalty for Arsenal in the 70th minute came as a surprise to no one, before the Gunners took the lead two minutes later. Calvin Bassey was then sent off before the Cottagers levelled with three minutes of normal time remaining remaining.
Away from the PL, Fulham put Spurs out of the League Cup in midweek. The match finished 1-1, with Fulham winning 5-3 on penalties
New Signings
Fulham have been busy in the transfer market, with Bassey arriving from Ajax for around £18m and Timothy Castagne from Leicester for around £10m. The Cottagers raided Wolves over the summer, taking Raul Jimenez and Adam Traore to Craven Cottage and goalkeeper Steven Benda arrived from Fulham.
A major blow for Cottagers fans was the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic to Saudi side Al-Hilal and, at the time of writing, Joao Palhinha, who scored in that draw at Arsenal, was on the verge of joining Bayern Munich.
Danger Men
Fulham have scored three goals so far this season and all of those have come from different players. Bobby de Cordova-Reid came on as substitute at Everton to score a late winner, while Andreas Pereira and Palhinha both scored at Arsenal. De Cordova-Reid has had the most shots on goal with six, while Palhina’s only shot on target resulted in a goal.
Harrison Reed has provided the only assist for Fulham this season, but it was a crucial one for Palhinha to equalise at the Emirates Stadium.
The Boss
Marco Silva is the man at the helm at Craven Cottage. The former Watford and Everton manager has been at the West London club since 2021 and helped guide the Cottagers back to the Premier League.
He has overseen 98 matches at Fulham, winning 48 and losing 30, giving him a win ratio of 49%.
Last Time in Manchester
City edged past Fulham in November as the Cottagers frustrated the blues. Julian Alvarez had given City the lead on 17 minutes, but Pereira equalised from the penalty spot 11 minutes later. The match seemed destined for a 1-1 stalemate until the blues were awarded a spot kick of their own in the 90th minute. Erling Haaland stepped up to sweep the penalty home and secure three points for the blues.
The Cottagers Link
There haven’t been many transfers between the two clubs. The most recent was Patrick Roberts, who moved to City from Fulham for around £12m in 2015.
Defender Kit Symons joined Fulham from City in 1998 and Rodney Marsh started his career at Craven Cottage before arriving at Maine Road via Queens Park Rangers in 1972. Michael Brown did the opposite. He started at City before moving to Fulham via Hartlepool, Portsmouth and Sheffield United (all loans), before staying at Bramhall Lane for another four years. A move to Spurs was followed by his arrival at Fulham in 2006.
A couple of former players have managed both sides. Mark Hughes left City in 2009 and became manager at Fulham in 2010, while Kevin Keegan took Fulham from the third division at the same time as City’s only season in the third tier. After managing England for a year, he arrived at Maine Road and spent four years at City.
