Saturday sees Fulham make the trip north to face Manchester City in fixtures round 11 of the 2020/21 Premier League season.

Six-time champions City have been in indifferent form so far this campaign, winning just four of their opening nine matches but, given the quality within their ranks, it is surely just a matter of time before Pep Guardiola’s side begin to rise up in the standings.

They sealed an emphatic victory in their most recent league outing, dispatching Burnley 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium with Riyad Mahrez scoring a hat-trick, but were held to a goalless draw with Porto in the Champions League in midweek.

Visitors Fulham enjoyed a similarly positive result in their last match, as goals from Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro were enough to defeat Leicester City on their own turf.

It was a crucial victory which lifted the Cottagers out of the relegation zone, and they will be hoping to replicate that disciplined and professional performance in pursuit of further points here.

Team news

Guardiola is again expected to be without the services of arch marksman Sergio Agüero following a minor setback in his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained in the summer.

Nathan Aké is back in the fold having made the bench against Porto on Tuesday, and those rotated out of the starting line-up for the Champions League tie are likely to return.

Parker, meanwhile, has a fully fit squad to choose from other than long-term absentees Kenny Tete and Terence Kongolo; the former did return to light first-team training earlier in the week.

Defender Tosin Adarabioyo looks set to start against his former club having swapped Manchester for London in the summer.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester City — Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Mendy; Gündogan, Rodri; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Torres; Jesus.

Fulham — Areola; De Cordova-Reid, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson; Loftus-Cheek, Reed, Anguissa, Lookman; Cavaleiro.

Key quotes

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola:

"Fulham are an encouraging team. I enjoy watching them for the way they play and they had an incredible result winning at Leicester away. It's not easy, we know the opponent we are going to face tomorrow.

"Phil Foden is a dream come true for managers. The first achievement is 50 games, he will play much more in the future. Hopefully he can have the passion to improve, knowing him it will happen.

"700 games [as manager], I will do 700 more then retire. I never expected it. It's a great number, with all the people we have made incredible things together and hopefully we can do more in the future."

Fulham manager Scott Parker:

“We have a winning team that got a good result, so they’ve put themselves in a position to start but I have a group of players here and, with the schedule coming up, I’ll pick the best team available.

“Monday’s done a lot for morale. I harp on about keeping spirits high, we haven’t won many games but when you get a positive result against a tough team it helps. That brings extra confidence and belief; it’s something to build on.

“We all realise how hard it’ll be. I believe if you go there in the right frame of mind and build your moments you can get a result. I’m positive about it but it’ll be a tough ask.”

Head-to-head

Look away, Fulham fans — the last nine encounters have seen City win by an aggregate score of 27-3.

The Cottagers are winless in 15 meetings in all competitions and failed to score against these opponents in just under eight hours of football.

January saw the most recent clash between the two sides, with City running out 4-0 winners at home in the FA Cup fourth round.

How to watch

Manchester City will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1, with coverage beginning at 14:45 GMT and kick-off at 15:00 GMT.

Alternatively, a highlights package will become available on the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

BBC One’s Match of the Day airs at 22:25 GMT and will cover the best action and analysis from all of the day’s Premier League fixtures.

There will also be a live text commentary on the match right here at VAVEL UK — make sure to follow along.