2018-19 Carabao Cup, Manchester City v Fulham: Preview & Prediction

Thursday night is an unusual time for professional football in England to be played, but Manchester City and Fulham face each other in the EFL Cup on this day. The Citizens will be aiming for a repeat of the last time they met the Cottagers, the English champions running out 3-0 winners at the Etihad.

With squad rotation being a factor in Guardiola's team selection, though, could Fulham pull off a very unlikely upset?

Previous Matches

Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City (Premier League)

Riyad Mahrez's first-half goal won the game for City.

Manchester City returned to the summit of the Premier League with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. News of Spurs' new ground not being open until at least the new year, and a chewed up Wembley pitch perhaps made more news than the game, but Riyad Mahrez wasted no time in putting the visitors ahead.

It true City style, a move from goalkeeper to winger set up Mahrez, thanks to Raheem Sterling's excellent run and pass. The Algerian dedicated the goal to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the man who brought the forward to Leicester City before the Foxes sensationally won the title.

Chances were very limited for the Lilywhites, but Erik Lamela undoubtedly had the best of them, blazing over from 10 yards when he really should've scored. The Sky Blues are back on level points with Liverpool at the top of the league, in what's proving to be a fascinating title race already.

Fulham 0-3 Bournemouth (Premier League)

Fulham again fell to defeat against Bournemouth

Fulham's difficult return to the Premier League continued with another defeat at Craven Cottage. The Cottagers haven't won a league match since the opening day of the season, and have had no success at their own ground so far this campaign.

Callum Wilson won a penalty after a quarter of an hour and duly converted the spot kick to put the Cherries ahead in the capital. Fulham stayed in the game until the late stages, but David Brooks rounded off a Bournemouth move to make it 2-0.

It soon got worse for the home side, Kevin McDonald's desperate challenge on Brooks just a minute earned him a second yellow card and an early bath. The goals were finished Wilson got his second of the day, the away side making it look easy, as Eddie Howe's side continue their exceptional start to the season and remain in 6th place.

Predicted Lineups

Manchester City

Phil Foden is in line to start on Thursday, as fixtures begin to pile up for the defending champions. Also coming in are Danilo, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernandinho, Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and a rare start for Brahim Diaz.

Don't rule out Ilkay Gundogan, Elaqium Mangala, Fabian Delph or Arijanet Muric making starts either, as this game provides an ideal opportunity to give them some match action.

Fulham

Joe Bryan is the sole player out with an injury, while Kevin McDonald is serving a one-match suspension following his sending off at the weekend. Elsewhere, Alfie Mawson, Marcus Bettinelli, Tom Cairney, Stefan Johansen, André-Frank Anguissa, Cyrus Christie and Floyd Ayite all come into the starting XI.

Aboubakar Kamara should start as a striker on Thursday night but could be dropped following his shameful dive at the weekend.

Key Player: Aboubakar Kamara

Fulham's hope of sending the games to penalties could rest on this man's shoulders

Aboubakar Kamara made headlines for all the wrong reasons last weekend, as the Frenchman was booked for simulation and should've been sent off for Fulham. However, with Mitrovic likely being rested it should be Kamara who is the Cottagers' sole striker on Thursday.

While Manchester City's threats will come from all over the pitch, Fulham's will have to be more focused, with the forward being the likely candidate. He won't get many chances but will have to be accurate with his efforts if he's to beat Ederson in goal.

Fulham Focussing on the League?

JokanoviÄ's side have had a difficult start to life back in the top tier. — Jokanović's side

The Fulham board deserve to be praised for sticking with manager Slaviša Jokanović during the first half of last season, as the Cottagers struggled in the Championship. The second half of the campaign was an incredible revival for the Craven Cottage outfit, which culminated in a victory over Aston Villa in the play-off final at Wembley.

Since then, it's been largely tough going for the Lily whites, despite spending big in the summer. With the Whites currently sitting in 18th, Jokanovic has to focus all of his efforts on staying in the Premier League, so that will mean his side his heavily rotated from the weekend's match.

With the Fulham reserves being of considerably lower quality when compared to Manchester City's, this could be an ugly result for the capital side.

Prediction: Manchester City 4-0 Fulham

Nothing is impossible in football, but seeing Fulham winning this one is pretty much as close as it gets to it. Even if the Whites were to get an early goal, I just can't envisage a scenario where Man City get less than 2 in the remainder of the game.

Don't rule out a bigger margin than 4 goals by the finish either. There was a lot of talk about a City quadruple last season, and that still should potentially be possible come Friday.

Edited by Rupin Kale