Tottenham`s win at the Britannia Stadium yesterday moved them 5 points clear of the competition. We currently lie in 6th place with 2 games in hand on Spurs. That result heaps more importance on our game today at Craven Cottage. Roy Hodgon`s team will be flying high after their outstanding 4-1 win over Juventus on Thursday night but Mancini will be looking for his side to bring the Cottagers straight back down to earth. If City go to London to attack then I am sure we can come away with three points. However, if we go to Craven Cottage content with picking up a point then I can see us getting beat.
Team News:
Patrick Vieira is expected to start after making a cameo from the bench last week against Sunderland and his inclusion will probably be at the expense of Nigel de Jong. Javier Garrido will play at left-back whilst Wayne Bridge recovers from a hernia operation ruling him out for at least a month. Adam Johnson is another player expected to start today after scoring his first goal in Blue against his boy-hood side, probably at the expense of Shaun Wright-Phillips
Here is the team that I think Mancio will go with:
(Going off what Douglas Higginbotham has reported)
City Line-Up:
(4-4-2)
1) Given
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2) Richards – 33) Kompany – 19) Lescott – 15) Garrido
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11) A Johnson – 24) Vieira – 18) Barry – 39) Bellamy
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14) Santa Cruz – 32) Tevez
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Mancini has a lot of options at the moment. He could play Stephen Ireland in the ‘hole’ at the expense of Roque Santa Cruz or he could swap Shaun Wright-Phillips for either Craig Bellamy or Adam Johnson. Another option would be to play the three-man midfield or to swap Pablo Zabaleta for Micah Richards. There are so many possibilities for Mancini.
And here is the team I expect Roy Hodgson to go with:
Fulham Line-Up:
(4-4-1-1)
1) Schwarzer
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6) Baird – 18) Hughes – 5) Hangeland – 7) Shorey
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16) Duff – 20) Etuhu – 13) Murphy – 29) Davies
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11) Gera
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25) Zamora
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What team would you go with?
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