Manchester City welcome Fulham to the Etihad for the 3pm (BST) kick off, and a chance for City to kick on in the defence of their title. Fulham, recently returning to the Premier League after their relegation in 2014. So far it hasn't been too bad, defeated away to Spurs as you might expect, but picking up a decent win against Burnley.
Visiting manager, Slaviša Jokanović, will be under no illusions the task facing his side. Any points from this visit would be seen as a decent result but the odds would be that Manchester City will win, and win comfortably.
Manchester City will be under pressure to rediscover the form from last season which saw them romp to the title. And it's not only recent history which should give the hosts confidence.
The first meeting between the two sides happened in the FA Cup, back in 1908. That first game was a draw, with Jimmy Blair scoring for the Blues. The second game happened four days later, with Fulham prevailing 3-1 with Scot, John Wood netting for the Blues in that game.
Since then though, Manchester City have enjoyed more of the success. In the 63 games played between the two, in all competitions, Manchester City have won just under half (30). Of the other 23 games, Fulham have won seventeen with the other sixteen being draws.
Saturdays game will mark the 64th meeting between the two sides, and comes four and a half years from our last meeting. The 22nd March 2014 saw Manchester City hammered their opposition 5-0. A Yaya Toure hat-trick (2 penalties) and a goal each from Fernandinho and Demichelis as City kicked on after Fernando Amorebieta was sent off.
Only David Silva and Fernandinho remain today from the side who turned out that day against Felix Magath's side. Manchester City fans will be hoping for a similar result this go around and, with recent results, you wouldn't bet against it.
In fact you'd have to go all the way back to April 12th 2009 for the last time Fulham beat the Blues. A 3-1 defeat saw the new owners first season come to a rather unremarkable finish. We have shared a trio of Managers also, well one played for us and Managed the Cottagers. Kit Symons played for us before going on to manage them while Kevin Keegan and Mark Hughes has been at the helm of both clubs at various points in their careers.
The two sides have also included the likes of Peter Beardsley, Wayne Bridge, Michael Brown, Andy Cole, Dickson Etuhu and Niclas Jensen. Older fans may remember Kit Symons and Terry Phelan from the early to mid 1990's and older still will remember Rodney Marsh. I did manage to get some comment from one of those players on the upcoming game between his two sides. Of the fixture, Terry Phelan said this:
I think after the International break the Managers will want to get back to busy again, Pep especially. This game will be a test for Fulham who do like to play Total football, the kind that supporters want to see. Their manager knows how difficult this game will be, because he knows all about the EPL after his spell at Watford. Fulham are an exciting team who will look to break through the thirds quickly with an array of passing techniques and will look to counter as well quickly.
City will look to play their way with flows of counter attacking football and I really don’t see a problem for MCFC in this game as they have too many quality players in all positions as we know . But will Sane play ??? It will be the trouble that City will give Fulham up top. Fulham on the other hand will look to drop deep to counter, they will definitely not out play city. This game should really be 3 points for the Citizens .I certainly agree with Terry with his thoughts on the game. It certainly should be three points for the Blues, and I would expect the side to come out all guns blazing from the off. Predicted a 5-0 victory and it certainly could be a high scoring affair if the Blues are at their free-flowing best.
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