Pep Guardiola bemoans Manchester City 'dropping performance' in second halves ahead of Fulham match
City need to keep winning in order to keep pace with Arsenal at the top of the table
Midweek soccer is back, and for Manchester City, they'll need to keep up their winning ways in order to push league leaders Arsenal in their upcoming match. City are still six points behind the Gunners, but after Sunday's comeback victory over Liverpool, it was one that meant more as star striker Erling Haaland ended his slump with a goal and an assist. But with a plucky Fulham team coming to the Etihad, City will need to be defensively sound to avoid this clash being like the last time that these two clubs met, a crazy 5-4 win for City where Pep Guardiola's side flirted with blowing a four goal lead.
How to watch Manchester City vs. Fulham, odds
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 11 | Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium -- Manchester, England
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Manchester City -300; Draw +450; Fulham +700
Back in December, the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage saw nine goals find the back of the net as City escaped with all three points. Phil Foden and Samuel Chukwueze both netted braces in the match, but it was certainly a defense-optional affair.
City's back line will look different than that one with Marc Guehi in the squad, while Ruben Dias' own return from injury will give Pep Guardiola a look at what will likely be his first choice central pairing for the foreseeable future.
Young defender Abdukodir Khusanov has had to log plenty of minutes as of late, with Josko Gvardiol, John Stones, and Nathan Ake all dealing with injuries. But as City gets slightly healthier, they can't be ruled out of the title race just yet. Guardiola will know that dropping any points will lead to falling out of the title race, but that's also not something that he wants to talk about. What Guardiola wants is for his team to be consistent.
"What I'm saying is what we have to do to beat Fulham, what we have to do to be better and to be closer to make the first half in Anfield and [not] the second. What is the reason why in the second half, we are still dropping our performance?" Guardiola said in his pre-match availability.
If the City manager could answer that question, they wouldn't be in this situation this season, but it shows how hard it is even for managers at the top of the game to know every answer. With FA Cup and Champions League play around the corner, City will need to balance their priorities while maintaining focus. Stringing together a few wins could do a lot for the squad, and it'll also be easier to do with Haaland in good form.
Pressure is always on the Norwegian, but it will be lessened after scoring in his last match. With improvement facing Fulham, maybe we can reach a point where City can go on a run and push Arsenal. That run may have already happened, but the only way to find out is by playing the games.
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