90min

Man City predicted lineup vs Fulham - Premier League

By Grey Whitebloom

Pep Guardiola has beaten Fulham in all seven of his managerial meetings with the Cottagers
Pep Guardiola has beaten Fulham in all seven of his managerial meetings with the Cottagers / Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
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Manchester City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola has won all nine of his managerial meetings with the current Craven Cottage incumbent Marco Silva, beating the last five clubs the Portuguese tactician has taken charge of (Olympiacos, Hull City, Watford, Everton and Fulham). It's the longest 100% success rate of Guardiola's career against any manager.

Here's the City XI Guardiola may deploy to extend his hoodoo over Silva.

Man City predicted lineup vs Fulham (4-3-3)

GK: Ederson - Fulham are the only team Ederson has faced more than three times without ever conceding a goal (four consecutive clean sheets).

RB: John Stones - On Fulham's last trip to the Etihad, Stones scored the goal to put City ahead in the fourth round of last season's FA Cup.

CB: Manuel Akanji - The Switzerland international grew up as a Manchester United supporter but was quick to insist he "stopped being a fan" upon his arrival in the blue half of the city.

CB: Ruben Dias - Akanji provided some insight into the unseen aspect of the centre-back's game, admitting he "didn’t particularly realise for instance how Ruben Dias leads from the back" with his running dialogue.

LB: Joao Cancelo - Aged 18, Cancelo's mother died in a road accident while he and his little brother Pedro were in the car. A year later he made his senior debut and dedicated it to the "woman of my life".

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - This calendar year, De Bruyne has directly contributed to 29 goals (13 scored, 16 assisted) in 28 Premier League matches.

CM: Rodri - The ballast in City's midfield has already racked up a career-high tally of three Premier League assists in a single season this term.

CM: Bernardo Silva - Before Monaco whisked him away from Benfica, Bernardo was being trained as a left-back by Jorge Jesus. Surprisingly, it's one of the few roles Guardiola hasn't shoehorned him into at City.

RW: Phil Foden - “The most, most, most talented player" Guardiola has ever seen hasn't scored or assisted a goal in his last six appearances across all competitions.

ST: Erling Haaland - With barely a third of the season gone, Haaland is just six goals shy of the tally which earned Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min the Golden Boot last season.

LW: Jack Grealish - The former Aston Villa captain is often mocked for what he offers in interviews but few can fault his honesty. "When I was young, all I wanted to do was look good," he once admitted. "As I got older I thought, there's no point just looking good."