Manchester City vs Fulham
Over the last few weeks Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have appeared reluctant to enter the Premier League title race with a poor set of results since the turn of the year. But they announced their intentions with a bang on Sunday, beating Liverpool at Anfield to stay within six points of leaders Arsenal.
And next up, Marco Silva’s Fulham are the Sky Blues’ opponents on Wednesday at the Etihad, and the Cottagers will be keen to put on a good show after losing at home to Everton on Saturday. In a full midweek programme of top flight football this could be another pivotal week after some spectacular drama over the last couple of days.
Talking Points
Was this City’s seminal moment?
The Premier League 2026 betting odds were bouncing all over the place around 6-15pm UK time on Sunday as Manchester City looked like they were leaving Anfield with nothing; then with a point…and then with three points…then maybe back to a point and then, finally…the big three!
The Sky Blues’ visit to Anfield on Sunday was a top flight classic which had just about everything, goals, controversy and a near farcical finish. After the Sky Blues had dominated the first half Liverpool woke up in the second period and Dominik Szoboszlai gave the Reds a lead with a brilliant free kick on 74 minutes. But City hit back when Bernardo Silva steered home a leveller with seven minutes of normal time to play. The referee signalled nine minutes of injury time and both teams went for the winner, and when Liverpool keeper Alisson ploughed into Matheus Nunes, Erling Haaland coolly slotted home to make it 2-1.
Liverpool weren’t done and Gigi Donnarumma made a world class save to keep out a defected drive from Alexis MacAllister and there was more to come. With the Liverpool keeper joining the hosts’ attack the Sky Blues broke away in a two on one, and Rayan Cherki rolled the ball home. But before it crossed the line, Szoboszlai fouled Haaland and then Haaland fouled Szoboszlai and, with both players at it, it looked like the game had ended 3-1 to City. But good old VAR spoiled the amazing moment, cancelling the goal and handing a red card to Szoboszlai, a cruel end to the Hungarian’s day which looked so bright less than half an hour earlier.
Anyhow, after a poor run of Premier League 2026 results, one win in four, this was huge for Guardiola and his players. The Sky Blues have been here before, six points behind the leaders with 13 games to play, and so have Arsenal. The gap could be down to three points on Wednesday, and with the Gunners away to Brentford on Thursday this could be a big week.
What next for Fulham?
Silva’s re-union with Everton was less jolly than he had hoped as the Toffees hit two late goals to take a 2-1 win away from Craven Cottage. While this was not a good performance from the Cottagers it looked like Fulham would pick up a vital win when Vitali Mykolenko put through his own goal in the first half and the score stayed at 1-0 until the 75th minute. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall levelled with quarter of an hour to play and when he sent over a corner on 83 minutes there appeared to be no danger. But the normally reliable Bernd Leno somehow punched the ball into his own net under very little pressure.
Last week Fulham lost 3-2 to Manchester United after Kevin had levelled at 2-2 with a brilliant strike at the start of injury time, so they are making a habit of letting points slip. And at tenth in the league table the season could go one of two ways. With the inspirational Harry Wilson leading the charge the Cottagers can still make a European push or, if they don’t tighten up, the campaign could fizzle out before the final run-in.
But I don’t really expect Fulham’s match with Manchester City to give us a clear answer.
History
With 26 wins to four and nine draws City have bossed the Cottagers over the years, and at the Etihad they have won 14, drawn four and lost three.
Last season the Sky Blues won this fixture by the odd goal in five and the two teams played out a nine goal festival of footy at the Cottage in December. Guardiola’s men charged into a 5-1 lead just after the break as Haaland scored his 100th Premier League goal, in record time, and then the Cottagers roared back. Alex Iwobi made it 5-2 and when substitute Samuel Chukwueze scored a quick-fire brace there were still 15 minutes to play, but the Sky Blues held on for an historic 5-4 victory.
While Fulham come into the game with back to back losses, they have three wins and three losses from the last six games, in all competitions, while Manchester City have won four, drawn one and lost one.
Betting Tip
The Sky Blues are red hot SBOTOP favourites to win this midweek clash at a price of 1.32, while the Cottagers are out at 8.50 and the draw is at 4.96. I fear for Silva’s boys if the Citizens carry on where they left off at Anfield.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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