Fulham vs. Manchester City

Fulham hosts Manchester City on Saturday at 3pm EST (remember after this weekend we have two weekends where we are in Daylight Savings Time, but England is not so adjust your Fulham Clock accordingly!). The match will be shown on Peacock.

Once again Fulham could get out of the relegation zone if results go their way. Things are so close that even a Fulham draw with a Brighton or Newcastle loss would be enough. However, this is the one match remaining where most of us would probably say that Fulham is likely to lose. Fulham as been playing very well, but Manchester City has been even better. On the bright side, over the past 8 matches Fulham has only give up 4 goals, while City has given up 8. They both only have one loss in the past seven matches. On the down side, Manchester City has scored as many goals in the past 8 matches as Fulham has all season (22) and City hasn't drawn a match since December and have only lost once since November. Fulham had a respectable 2-0 loss to City at the Etihad, and I expect something similar this time at Craven Cottage. Fulham just hasn't been as good at home this season with their only home wins coming against the only teams below them - West Brom and Sheffield United. Any points from this would be fantastic, but I'll be satisfied with minimal damage to the goal differential and no injuries.

 

Couldn’t ask for a better time to play them. Citeh ran roughshod over Southampton yesterday, and have a comfortable but not insurmountable lead on Gladbach (2-0) in their CL 2nd leg Tues. Would expect to see some regulars start on the bench.

Even a draw would be surprising, but who would’ve ever predicted a Merseyside sweep? Saw Wolves and ManU employed the same strategy recently that we surely will try. Wolves actually had it 1-1 around the 65th before getting blitzed 4-1, and ManU won 0-2 despite looking vastly inferior.

 

I'm predicting a 2-1 win. One day I'll be right, why not tomorrow? Okay, unlikely, but it could happen. I will be very surprised if Parker doesn't line us up with 5 in the back, but he proved me wrong against Liverpool, so what do I know? (My wife would tell me, not much, John Snow, not much.)

I do think and am convinced I'll be right that--win, draw, or lose--we'll play one of our best matches this season. There will be heroes.

 

I'm gonna predict a 2-nil upset win for the mighty Cottagers. The conditions are ripe for just such an upset, and I can see it happening. They were too good, and it was too easy, against the Saints midweek at the Etihad, and I think they are in a spot where we can take advantage of all the factors everyone has already mentioned. We didn't just beat Liverpool, we bullied them a little bit, and I think our youngsters have got their tails up and are ready to do the business. Plus, we are overdue...way overdue...for some semblance of an offensive bust out. Yes, Ederson has 15 clean sheets but, as Southampton showed on Wednesday, they can be undone without having the best of attacks. Sometimes these things fester and grow on their own, and teams can't seem to shake slumps in a particular area.
We win this one.

 

So far, so good at the half.

 

Well this went south quickly.

 

Welp, if you gotta have a dud, might as well have it against the soon to be champs. It’s still disappointing after such a really solid first half. But you can’t make any mistakes against a team like this, because even on an average day for them, they’ll punish you to the max.
Only thing to do is make it as small as possible in the rear view mirror and get ready for Leeds Friday. I believe Signor Bielsa’s men will find us significantly more resolute to break down since their 4-3 win at Elland Road last September.

 

Onward and hopefully upward.

 

After that performance I think that we can safely say that Fulham doesn't have what it takes to win the league. Manchester City were clearly the better side despite keeping a number of their regular starters on the bench. Even when Fulham were at their best in the first half, there were no scoring threats, just a solid defense hoping for a draw. I wish that Fulham could have gotten out just conceding the first goal rather than giving up two more due to sloppy errors. At least there were no injuries. Three points from City, Liverpool, and Tottenham isn't terrible - now Fulham needs get four wins from the last nine.

 

Well we can still get out of the relegation zone tomorrow if Brighton lose 7-0

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Well, Brighton won. But if we continue to play as we have, we'll survive on our own merit. We played the best team in the world yesterday, and I thought we acquitted ourselves well.

Onto Leeds and, finally, the long-prophesied 2-1 win.

 

There were actually more Fulham highlights in the video than I expected. None of them were really exciting though. A lot more pretty buildup with no finish. And when I say finish I don’t just mean goals, most didn’t even produce a cross - let alone a shot. But, as has been said, that’s not unexpected when playing City in their current form.

With 9 matches to go, I’m still not sure where the goals will come from but it looks like it’s going to be an exciting finish.