Fulham at Manchester City

Fulham travels to the Etihad to take on Manchester City. Kickoff is Saturday at 10am on Peacock.

Manchester City - two words that spell certain doom for Fulham going back 13 years now. A string of 16 consecutive losses across all competitions. It is a small moral victory that Fulham has even managed to score in the last couple visits to City. But maybe Saturday is when that run finally ends? City is coming off of two consecutive draws, while Fulham is coming off of two consecutive wins against previously unbeaten teams. With Manchester City playing without Rodri and De Bruyne, could Fulham possibly add a third unbeaten team to their win list?

While you can make an argument that this is the best chance Fulham has to get a win against Manchester City in years, let's face it, a loss is still the most likely outcome for Fulham. In fact, we may want to remember Fulham's current sixth place position because there is a good chance it is the high-water mark for this season.

Since Fulham is blessed with a healthy squad, expect another unchanged side for Fulham in Marco's if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach to football. They will need their best performance of the season to get a result, but if they manage to deliver, they have a shot at some kind of result.

 

I love your optimism. I'm personally glad the kid has a game during this one so I don't have to watch it live. Hope I regret saying that.

 

Big City Blues.

This one is going to be ugly… even if Fulham get a result. I see either a big blowout (ala last season’s penultimate match) or a park the bus kind of slog that somehow yields Fulham a point.

 

All that firepower and we were undone by the lowly Mateo Kovacic.
Frustrating, but at the end of the day they’re still Citeh and will be as long as the oil money flows and Pep’s in charge. I don’t think anybody’s afraid of them anymore though. If we can shore up the defense, not just against them, but everybody, I think we can score enough goals to win matches against the top five or six or whomever. We have the ability to turn the tables on them in the season ender at the Cottage.

 

In Vegas, so haven’t seen anything, but Shaka Hislap said it was a one man Adama choke show, when he absolutely blew 3 chances that at minimum he should’ve scored 2..

 

That made me laugh! My "optimism" was that I thought Fulham had a chance of winning but would probably still lose. Such is the life of a Fulham fan that the optimistic side of things, when it comes to Manchester City, still involves losing.

I think that is a bit harsh on Traore. Two of his blocked shots were certainly on target and it was a matter of inches that kept him out. If the first shot had been as high as the third shot, and the third shot had been as low as the first then he would have had two goals. The second shot wasn't too far over, not a horrible miss, and Ederson was certainly making it difficult.

There were a number of positives from this match...

Fulham won on xG! 2.76 to 1.37. So, if we lose to a League champion, but win on xG, we don't get a dancing banana, but maybe something else? Like Eeyore in a birthday hat.

Fulham played a really well executed match against Manchester City. On another day with a ball that bounced a little more in Fulham's favor they get a point or more.

That first goal was a great effort from the team with a lovely assist from Raul. And Muniz finally got on the score sheet with a terrific finish!

It was a courageous showing from Fulham that I'm proud of, although still disappointed it ended in yet another loss. They did show that they have the capability from anyone in the league - it just didn't happen today.

 

Well that went much better than I expected. It was entertaining and close.

I won’t call it a choke show, but when you have two different 1v1s with the keeper and both get blocked then you didn’t get it right.

The first goal was a thing of beauty. Good passing leading up to a slick finish.

The fact that it took Kovacic to beat Fulham tells you that the game plan was solid.

 

Better highlights from Fulham than what NBC provided. These show replays of Traore's shots and a shot from Raul that I had forgotten about that received a critical block to keep him from scoring in the second half.