Man City v Fulham LIVE: Pep sweating on Haaland as City look to leapfrog Arsenal

The Citizens have won each of their last 12 meetings with the Cottagers and another victory will propel them above Arsenal.

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Pep Guardiola's side currently sit second in the table and two points adrift of the Gunners, who play a day later away at Chelsea.

City are also unbeaten in their last 18 matches at the Etihad - with their last home defeat coming against Tottenham back in February.

Man City v Fulham: talkSPORT coverage

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This Premier League clash will take place on Saturday, November 5.

talkSPORT will have exclusive coverage of the game at the Etihad with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.

Adrian Durham will be presenting live from Elland Road where Leeds will be taking on Bournemouth.

Commentary from Manchester will be coming from Ian Danter and former England defender Micky Gray.

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To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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Man City v Fulham: Team news

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The home side are sweating on news of Erling Haaland's fitness after the Norwegian superstar missed the last two games with ankle ligament damage.

Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips both remain sidelined ahead of the World Cup, but Manuel Akanji is expected to be back after a slight knock.

Fulham meanwhile will be missing Bobby Decordova-Reid due to suspension and Kenny Tete could be the man to replace him.

Neeskens Kebano is a confirmed long-term absentee after rupturing his Achilles, which could open up a spot for Dan James on the right.

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Man City v Fulham: What has been said?

Guardiola was keen to hail the impact of Julian Alvarez, who started and scored against Sevilla in midweek in Haaland's absence.

Asked about the Argentine's performance, the Man City boss answered: "He had two assists!

"I would say there is not one person in the locker room today, staff and players, who is not happy for him.

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"He is a special guy. He has an incredible work ethic.

"He made two assists and scored one goal. The goal is not easy.

"The pass from Kevin was exceptional but the keeper reduced the space but he made the dribble and it was a good finish.

"There's a lot of players there where it was not easy. It's not easy to find the space. But he was patient. He found it. And he was rewarded and got what he deserved."

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Man City v Fulham: Match stats

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in 29 goals in the Premier League in 2022 (13 goals, 16 assists), second only to Harry Kane (32). The Belgian has also had a hand in 18 goals in his last 13 starts against newly promoted opponents (7 goals, 11 assists).

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is the only player to have had more than 50 shots in the Premier League this season (56). He had 10 efforts at goal without scoring in their goalless draw with Everton, the most by a player without finding the net in a game since Harry Kane against Brighton in December 2017 (also 10).

Fulham's Andreas Pereira has created 34 chances in the Premier League this season, second only to Man City's Kevin De Bruyne (40), with Pereira creating a league-high 20 during October. Seven of those were against Everton in their goalless draw, the most by a Fulham player in a Premier League game since Simon Davies against West Ham in December 2010 (also seven).

Manchester City have scored 10 goals in their two home Premier League games against the newly promoted clubs this season (4-0 vs Bournemouth, 6-0 vs Nottingham Forest). The most home goals scored against promoted clubs in a season is 15 by Arsenal in the 2012-13 campaign.

Fulham have won 19 points in their opening 13 Premier League games this season (W5 D4 L4), more points than they had at this stage in 2018-19 (8) and 2020-21 (9) combined.

Manchester City have won their last 10 home Premier League games, scoring at least three times in every single victory (43 goals in total). They could become the first top-flight side to win more than 10 such home games in a row since Aston Villa between December 1930 and September 1931 (13 in a row).

Fulham have won just two of their 15 Premier League away games against reigning champions (D2 L11), though they did win their most recent such match 1-0 at Liverpool in March 2021 (also 3-1 at Man Utd in October 2003).

Manchester City have won their last 12 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, only ever having longer winning runs against Watford (15) and West Bromwich Albion (14). They've also netted at least twice in each of their last 13 against the Cottagers in all competitions.

Three of Fulham's four Premier League victories against Manchester City have come at the Etihad Stadium, most recently a 3-1 victory in April 2009.

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games against Fulham, winning 11 and drawing three. They've won each of their nine against them in the competition, keeping a clean sheet in each of the last five.