Pep Guardiola has made eight changes to the side that beat Sevilla in midweek.

The only three players to retain their place are skipper Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez.

Manuel Akanji has shaken off a minor knock and starts, with Nathan Ake and John Stones also returning.

Erling Haaland makes a welcome return from injury, but has been named as a substitute 

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Line ups:

CITY: Ederson, Stones, Cancelo, Ake, Akanji, Gundogan (c), Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Alvarez

Subs: Ortega, Dias, Haaland, Laporte, Gómez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis

Formation: 4-3-3

The only major talking point from the starting XI is who starts at right-back.

Assuming Joao Cancelo is on the left, either John Stones or Manuel Akanji will surely take up the right berth.

Both have filled in that  role recently and done extremely well.

Alternatively, Nathan Ake could fill in on the left, Cancelo on the right with Stones and Akanji in central defence!

One to watch as we kick-off.

Further up the field is easier to figure out, with Rodrigo the holding midfielder and Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne completing the the trio.

If that’s the case, our forward line will consist of Bernardo on the right flank, Grealish on the left and Alvarez will play centrally.

But as always, nothing is guaranteed in a Guardiola starting XI!

alvarez looking to shine again

Two assists and a goal in midweek is a more than decent return for any player.

Alvarez managed that against Sevilla and will look to impress again on home soil this afternoon.

The Argentine will be happy to see Kevin De Bruyne‘s name on the team-sheet, with the Belgian assisting a goal against the La Liga side.

He knows he will need to make plenty of incisive runs and look to get in behind the Fulham defence whenever the opportunity arises as the Blues look to return to the top of the table for at least 24 hours or so.

impressive fulham

Guardiola remarked at his Friday press conference that he wasn’t the least bit surprised Fulham have started the season as well as they have.

Unbeaten in their last four games, Marco Silva’s side have more than held their own and have already won twice on the road this season.

Their talisman is Aleksandar Mitrovic (above) with nine Premier League goals from 12 games - but he misses out this afternoon.

Expect the Cottagers move the ball quickly, be brave and attack whenever possible against City.

That should make for a bright, entertaining 90 minutes.

Stats and facts

City

  • City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games against Fulham, winning 11 and drawing three. They’ve won each of their nine against them in the competition, keeping a clean sheet in each of the last five.
  • Three of Fulham’s four Premier League victories against Manchester City have come at the Etihad Stadium, most recently a 3-1 victory in April 2009.
  • City have won their last 12 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, only ever having longer winning runs against Watford (15) and West Bromwich Albion (14). They’ve also netted at least twice in each of their last 13 against the Cottagers in all competitions.
  • Fulham have won just two of their 15 Premier League away games against reigning champions (D2 L11), though they did win their most recent such match 1-0 at Liverpool in March 2021 (also 3-1 at Man Utd in October 2003).
  • City have won their last 10 home Premier League games, scoring at least three times in every single victory (43 goals in total). They could become the first top-flight side to win more than 10 such home games in a row since Aston Villa between December 1930 and September 1931 (13 in a row).
  • Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in 29 goals in the Premier League in 2022 (13 goals, 16 assists), second only to Harry Kane (32). The Belgian has also had a hand in 18 goals in his last 13 starts against newly promoted opponents (7 goals, 11 assists).

Fulham

  • Fulham have won 19 points in their opening 13 Premier League games this season (W5 D4 L4), more points than they had at this stage in 2018-19 (8) and 2020-21 (9) combined.
  • Manchester City have scored 10 goals in their two home Premier League games against the newly promoted clubs this season (4-0 vs Bournemouth, 6-0 vs Nottingham Forest). The most home goals scored against promoted clubs in a season is 15 by Arsenal in the 2012-13 campaign.
  • Fulham’s Andreas Pereira has created 34 chances in the Premier League this season, second only to Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne (40), with Pereira creating a league-high 20 during October. Seven of those were against Everton in their goalless draw, the most by a Fulham player in a Premier League game since Simon Davies against West Ham in December 2010 (also seven).
  • Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is the only player to have had more than 50 shots in the Premier League this season (56). He had 10 efforts at goal without scoring in their goalless draw with Everton, the most by a player without finding the net in a game since Harry Kane against Brighton in December 2017 (also 10).