Manchester City return to the Etihad Stadium as they host Fulham in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s side come in off the back of a chaotic victory against Liverpool, where Erling Haaland grabbed City
a last ditch winner from the penalty spot.
The reverse fixture at Craven Cottage was equally as entertaining, as Fulham fought back to only lose 5-4 to a City side that had been 5-1 up and cruising.
Here are five things to look out for as City welcome Fulham to east Manchester:
The return of Bobb
It’ll be good to see Oscar Bobb return to the Etihad Stadium just a few weeks after departing for Fulham.
The Norwegian winger just didn’t kick on after his injury, and found himself behind Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Omar Marmoush in the pecking order.
He sealed a £27 million move to Fulham at the end of the window, and he could make his first start for Marco Silva’s team on Wednesday evening.
Bobb is an extremely technical, talented individual who works hard off the ball and has a good attitude.
However, it appears from Guardiola’s comments that he feels the 22-year-old lacks self confidence, particularly following his injury, so needed to leave for the beneficiary of his career.
It’ll be good to welcome him home, but City’s defenders will be aware that he’s a quality footballer who can cause them problems if they don’t manage him well.
Stones on the bench
Finally back from injury – for the time being at least – is John Stones.
City’s number five is entering the final few months of his contract, and it’s very unlikely that his deal will be renewed due to the number of centre backs at the club and the injuries he’s suffered since the treble.
The 31-year-old is one of the best centre backs in the world on his day, but innocuous injuries keep on getting the better of him and leaving him sidelined for months.
His last appearance was, in fact, the reverse fixture more than two months ago, where he came on and struggled in holding midfield.
He’s been a tremendous servant for City and is ready to return to the matchday squad, as he’s set to make his final few appearances after nearly ten years in a City shirt.
Cherki and Reijnders starting as tens
Both of these two have been in decent form of late, and should come into the team having been benched against Liverpool.
Cherki came on and perhaps should’ve scored, had it not been for a VAR intervention that adjudged Haaland fouled Dominik Szoboszlai in the build up having just been fouled himself.
Tijjani Reijnders, meanwhile, enjoyed probably his best game since his Premier League debut against Wolves in August against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semi final second leg.
The Dutchman ran the show in midfield and played a role in all three goals, scoring the third one himself after carrying the ball up the pitch on the counter and eventually dispatching a loose ball into the back of the net.
Both have lots of room to improve but have also proven to be effective buys so far for City, and I’d like to see them both start against Fulham.
Haaland scoring again
City’s number nine will be flowing with confidence after his last minute goal won the game at Anfield.
Haaland hasn’t had a great run of form since Christmas, but he’s got three goal contributions in his last two starts and overall looked much sharper in the last 20 minutes of the Newcastle and Liverpool games.
He’s the best striker in the world on his day and arguably the best goalscorer the Premier League has ever seen, so you can’t back against him finding the back of the net against Fulham, who he enjoys a very good record against with 10 goal contributions in seven games.
A win at home for City
City’s home form has remained excellent even during their recent inconsistent run.
They haven’t lost at the Etihad since August, and have won their last four matches there in all competitions.
Fulham are a good team with excellent attackers that can hurt City, as they demonstrated in December, but if City are on their game they should cruise to victory ahead of the FA Cup on Saturday.
