12/1Fulham (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Timothy Castagne; Issa Diop; Calvin Bassey; Antonee Robinson; Alex Iwobi; João Palhinha; Bobby Decordova-Reid; Andreas Pereira; Willian; Rodrigo Muniz;
Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Manuel Akanji; Rúben Dias; Nathan Aké; Joško Gvardiol; Rodri; Mateo Kovačić; Bernardo Silva; Kevin De Bruyne; Phil Foden; Erling Haaland;
For the first time in a long time, Manchester City will be level on games played with the leader, Arsenal, and will be able to settle at the top for at least a day. In the first match of the 37th round, the Citizens visit thirteenth-placed Fulham. For The Gunners, on the other hand, a seemingly tricky visit to Old Trafford is coming up tomorrow, but due to the poor form and injuries in the Manchester United squad, I don’t expect Arsenal’s game to be a banana skin.
In the first half of the season, Manchester City effortlessly ran over Fulham 5-1 at home. It was the fifteenth consecutive victory for the Citizens over this opponent in all competitions, and this trend can hardly be reversed today. However, today’s game is one of three that Arsenal fans are hoping for, and Fulham’s motivation will be to stop the champion en route to another title.
The end of the season finds the Cottagers in need of improvement, with only one win in seven games already. The team lost to higher-ranked Newcastle and Liverpool, with the points earned coming mainly from the London derbies. The last of these was with Brentford a week ago. Then, the two teams did not beat each other and did not even exchange shots, although situations needed to be improved.
In mid-April, Manchester City was knocked out of the Champions League, which unwillingly lightened the programme for the rest of the season. In two of the four games that followed, the Citizens looked endlessly tired but managed to pull through. These were the victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final and the success at the City Ground. On 4 May, after six days without an official match, we have already seen Manchester City in their full glory – an emphatic 5-1 win over Wolverhampton without a glimpse of compromise.
No one can take away the faith of Arsenal fans, but just as Real Madrid has worked miracles countless times in the Champions League, Guardiola’s Manchester City always end their seasons in style. It’s not luck; it’s experience and belief in one’s abilities. As I’ve already mentioned, Fulham is in poor form and recently has had horrendous results in the competition. Manchester City, on the other hand, are playing with spirit and are missing injured players, which is a prerequisite for another comfortable win.