Fulham looks like the weakest club in the Premier League on paper and in performance. Summer residents seem to be not ready to play at such a high level. However, Scott Parker’s wards earned somehow the first point in the last round. Fulham managed to draw away with Sheffield United (1:1). Moreover, judging by the debut of the championship, the summer residents partly progress from match to match. In the first three meetings, Fulham lost to Arsenal (0:3), Leeds (3:4) and Aston Villa (0:3), then there was a minimal fiasco from Wolverhampton (0:1) and here’s the first point with Sheffield. Judging by meetings in the Premier League, Fulham play better away than at home. After all, it was at Craven Cottage that the team was defeated twice (0:3). Only the League Cup does not confirm this theory, where Fulham won at home and lost to Brentford on the road (0:3). Fulham has two injured players: Harrison Reed and Joachim Andersen. Josh Onoma, Jean-Michel Sery, Kevin MacDonald and Stefan Johansen were not on the list for the first half of the season.
Manchester City are going through a difficult period now, but they are already gradually beginning to recover. After five rounds “Citizens” are in a very unusual 11th position. Josep Guardiola’s wards played four matches in the new league, in which they broke with Leeds (1:1), lost to Leicester (2:5) and won Wolverhampton (3:1) and Arsenal (1:0). The gap from the leader is six points. But Manchester City got off to a good start in the Champions League. The Citizens beat Porto at home (3:1). Taking into account the League Cup, this allowed Guardiola’s players to bring their unbeaten streak to four official matches. Manchester City’s squad is still suffering from a shortage of staff. From the good is that Sergio Aguero returned. On the other hand, Kevin de Bruyne was out of action. He is accompanied in the infirmary by such players as Emeric Laporte, Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho and Benjamin Mendy. All of them are considered the main players in Guardiola’s team. The participation of Nathan Ake is also questionable.