Premier League Stats
The Head-to-Head record is exactly what you'd expect. We have played them a total of 27 times in the Premier League winning 14 of them (seven home and seven away). There have been nine draws between the two sides (slightly high you'd think, as that's 1/3rd of the total games between the two). But the biggest surprise is probably their only single win at home against us (out of a total of four, with other three coming away from Craven Cottage).
With their regular dropping in and out of the Premier League, the Recent Meetings against them stretch all the way back to the Pellegrini era for us; we have won all of the last five games against them.
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Their Form Guide demands a closer look than ours as even though they have been struggling in relegation places all throughout the season, their recent form has improved over time and they are now seriously challenging those above them to a proper relegation dog-fight in this final stretch.
They are somewhat of the Draw specialists in the league this season as the Season So Far numbers below show ... but the one stat that stands out for me is their struggle to score goals, otherwise they'd have been a lot higher in the table with that defensive solidity that they have shown.
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Before & After
We end our run of four home games in a row and are finally away this weekend. But after a five day gap between our last two games (between Wolves and United), we now revert to a game every three days ... having just played against Saints with a two day gap, we now have Fulham to look forward to three days later ... and then have Champions League R16 return leg another three days after that.
Oh, and this is also the last league game that we play till April now. Our next two games before that two week long stupid international break kicks in are in Champions League and the Quarter Final of the FA Cup. Win those two and there would also be two cup draws to look forward to next week.
Fulham on the other hand are not only on a one-game-per-week cushy schedule but also coming into this game in some form. They would also be on a high after beating the last seasons' Champions at Anfield in their last fixture.
These are their (and our) games around this tie:
Fulham
Sun 7 - 2:00pm - Liverpool (A) - PL
Sat 13 - 8:00pm - City (H) - PL
Fri 19 - 8:00pm - Leeds United (H) - PL
Manchester City
Wed 10 - 6:00pm - Southampton (H) - PL
Sat 13 - 8:00pm - Fulham (A) - PL
Tue 16 - 8:00pm - Mönchengladbach (H) - CL
This week's schedule is a perfect example of why the quality throughout the squad is required to compete on all fronts, especially at this stage of the season and why wholesale changes are needed from one game to next ... although we have both: the quality in depth and a manager who is pretty good at rotating and keeping everyone fresh and on their toes - ready for whatever challenge is up next.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Fight mode on - survival on the line ... they are playing out of their skin currently and one of the form teams in the league. Just last weekend, they went away to Anfield and dicked them 1-0 ... although winning at Anfield isn't all that anymore as every Tom, Dick and City have gone and won there recently. Plus I think the high of that might have sapped quite a bit of their energy coming into this game.
Have a look at the detailed form table below consisting of last six games each and you'll find that they're even outperforming both United and Leicester ...
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Their form overall is pretty decent but they are not only performing against those in the lower half of the table but are giving the top teams a proper game as well. Their only loss was against Spurs in their last six fixtures and that too was a very narrow 1-0 defeat and they had more than enough chances to get something out of that game as well. Other than Liverpool, they have also beaten Everton recently. The reason they find themselves in relegation battle is their prolonged early season struggles.
Their numbers in the stats section above highlighted their lack of goals up front and them being some sort of Draw specialists in the league this season ... but they don't necessarily always park the bus. They still come out in numbers and play football, which should suit us over the ninety minutes come Saturday ... where I don't expect us to over-exert ourselves either and expect this to be a comfortable watch. Just like the reverse fixture, where we scored one in first five minutes and added the second another twenty minutes later and then just cruised through the rest of the game.
For us it really is only about ticking off games in the Premier League now ... and I expect us to do just that, without getting out of third gear. Do just enough to take a win, no unnecessary exertions, no injuries and move on to the next ... With Champions League tie in the mid-week ahead, fans might be concerned that some players might have half an eye on that, which under normal circumstances could prove to be fatal when facing a side fighting for their lives ... but I think Pep has this under control. Also, the fact that we are already 2-0 up in that tie that lies ahead, he won't be putting out an unnecessarily weakened team for this one. Expect rotation, in both of those fixtures, but just enough to freshen up and go once again.
As for the league, having already played a game more than United and Leicester (the two directly below us in the table) this mid-week, we are now playing ahead of both of them on the weekend as well ... so a for us chance to add yet another three points to the total and extend that lead further ... and in doing so put out any thoughts (if) they are still harbouring of challenging us for the title.
Match Prediction
Fulham 0 - 3 Manchester City
C'mon City ... onwards and upwards!
