Reigning Premier League champion Manchester City returns to action in the English top flight to take on Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola's team dropped four points in its last two league matches against Newcastle at St. James' Park and vs. 10-men Arsenal at home. City sits in second place in the Premier League on 14 points, just one point off first place Liverpool.
City heads into the weekend matchup with a bit of momentum after its first UEFA Champions League win in the new format. The Citizens followed up a 1–1 draw at home against Serie A giant Inter Milan in the first round with a comprehensive 4–0 triumph away to ŠK Slovan Bratislava.
Guardiola handed attacking midfielder Phil Foden his second start of the season resulting in a goal and an assist for the England international. As City don't have the squad depth they would like due to injuries, Guardiola had no choice but start players like Erling Haaland, Savinho, Jérémy Doku and İlkay Gündoğan—only Haaland was taken off while the other three players lasted the full 90 minutes.
City will be without Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Aké in the short-term as both players work back to full fitness from their respective groin and hamstring injuries. Aké is likely to return near the end of October while De Bruyne could return rather soon. "Hopefully after the international break [Kevin] will be back," Guardiola said ahead of the match against Bratislava.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Fulham (4-2-3-1)
GK: Ederson—The veteran shot-stopper returns to the mix.
RB: Kyle Walker—Walker should be fully fit for the weekend.
CB: Rúben Dias—Dias played the last half-hour against Bratislava and should slot right into the backline vs. Fulham.
CB: Manuel Akanji—Guardiola made sure to preserve Akanji's legs by taking him off at the hour mark in the midweek.
LB: Joško Gvardiol—The versatile defender keeps his place in the lineup on the left side of the defense.
DM: Mateo Kovačić—The Croatian midfielder got the chance to catch his breath during the midweek contest and will likely return to the mix against Fulham.
DM: İlkay Gündoğan—The 33-year-old played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday but is likely to start again in the Premier League.
RW: Bernardo Silva—Silva was another key player that was rested against Bratislava. Guardiola could look to use him through the middle but he's more likely to feature from the start on the right.
AM: Phil Foden—Foden is in line for his third start of the season after impressing in the Champions League.
LW: Jack Grealish—The former Aston Villa forward will be eager to bag his first goal of the season.
ST: Erling Haaland—The Norwegian will aim to start a new goalscoring streak in the Premier League to add to his 10 goals in six appearances.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Fulham: Premier League.