A draw at Fulham FC should be enough for Manchester City on Sunday, given the goal differential advantages they hold on the clubs behind them in the race for Champions League qualification. A single point gets third place Manchester City to 69 (nice!), and let’s say the three teams behind them all win. That would be fourth place Newcastle, fifth place Chelsea and sixth place Aston Villa.
Newcastle would need to beat Everton by five or more, Chelsea would have to beat Nottingham Forest by seven plus, and with Villa, 18 or more.
So, yeah a stalemate (like they had a couple weeks ago against Southampton, very shockingly) would be enough. Obviously, they want a get a W first and foremost, and put all this to bed, but an L….yikes, a loss could makes things dicey.
Championship Sunday FYIs
Manchester City at Fulham FC
Kickoff: Sunday, May 25, 4pm, Craven Cottage Stadium
Team News at Fulham FC
Rodri and Oscar Bobb both returned to action last night, and those were exciting and memorable moments for all involved. That leaves English defender John Stones as the only injury absentee. He’s a strong doubt for this one.
Let’s take a look at who could feature in the first team for Pep Guardiola. As this will be Kevin de Bruyne’s final game in a Man City shirt, we think he’ll get the starting nod here.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Fulham FC
Ederson; Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan; Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar Bobb, Omar Mahmoush; Erling Haaland
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter