Manchester City take on Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday and Matheus Nunes could make his debut.
Manchester City are back in Premier League action on Saturday.
The Blues welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium as they look to maintain their 100 per cent start of the season before the Premier League goes on pause for the international break. City narrowly defeated Sheffield United with a late Rodri winner last week while the Cottagers secured a last-gasp draw against Arsenal with 10 men.
City have been boosted ahead of the match as Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji are fit to play. John Stones is returning to fitness but it’s unlikely he will be risked ahead of the deadline. “Right now, Phil is completely recovered from his illness,” Juanma Lillo said. “Manu’s problem was more prevention. He’s more or less there. John is more or less there as well. We’re okay, we’re fine. It’s not decisive.”
Jeremy Doku will be hoping to make his debut after being an unused substitute at Bramall Lane but it’s not clear if new signing Matheus Nunes will be involved as he hadn’t trained with his new teammates on Friday.
Simon Bajkowski
Phil Foden showed what a game-changer he can be even with illness so he surely deserves a start against Fulham to really show what he can do. Mateo Kovacic has slotted in seamlessly to the City midfield and can continue to grow his partnership with Rodri.
Manu Akanji was the other player missing from Fulham that is back, but as he works his way back to full sharpness there is no need to rush him back because the four defenders who played did a fine enough job (barring Walker’s error). Walker is improving at the dual role covering the whole right flank and can have another go here.
Jack Grealish linked up with Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez has performed very well in previous matches against Fulham. Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes will both be hoping for some minutes, although that can come from off the bench.
Joe Bray
The temptation is to throw Jeremy Doku or Matheus Nunes into the mix, but it seems like Nunes in particular would only be involved from the bench, if at all. Doku might be better coming off the bench for his first experience of the Etihad. With Foden and Akanji both available, they are the only players I can see coming back in from the start.
Akanji can play instead of Josko Gvardiol, shifting Nathan Ake over to left-back. Gvardiol hasn’t started badly, but can be exploited at left-back and Ake is a safer option. I’d also consider keeping Julian Alvarez in the side after three quietly influential performances.
That means a straight choice between Bernardo and Phil Foden. It sounds like Foden was only on the bench at Sheffield United due to illness, so maybe he comes back in against Fulham. Bernardo has welcomed a new baby this week, so may be a logical option to drop out.
Daniel Murphy
Phil Foden was sublime in a central role against Newcastle but wasn’t fit enough to start at Sheffield United after a bout of illness. But now he’s back to full health he should come back into the fold, possibly in place of Julian Alvarez.
Dan’s team
Otherwise, the team should remain unchanged, even with Manuel Akanji available again after he missed the trip to Bramall Lane.
It’s not yet clear if Matheus Nunes will be involved after only arriving on deadline day but it would be good to see Jeremy Doku make his debut off the bench.
