Man City were impressive against the Reds last time out, and the 2-1 scoreline didn’t really do them much justice. They carved out plenty of quality opportunities and had a third goal chalked off late on. 

Guardiola's side will relish a return to the Etihad here, where they have won four matches on the bounce. They were convincing against Newcastle in their last home outing, cruising to a 3-1 win, having gone into that game already with a 2-0 aggregate lead. Man City have won 12 of their 16 home matches this season across all competitions, and will be confident of increasing that rate on Wednesday night. 

Pep Guardiola’s men have won each of their last 19 head-to-head meetings against Fulham, highlighting just how dominant they have been in this matchup. City raced to a 5-1 lead after 54 minutes when these sides last met, before taking their foot off the gas. They will hope to be more convincing on Wednesday night.

Fulham were able to pull the score back to 5-4 at Craven Cottage, but were unlucky in the end. Josh King saw his effort cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol in the dying embers, leaving the home crowd frustrated.

Led by Harry Wilson, The Cottagers have been strong in the final third this season, and have only failed to score once in their last 16 matches across all competitions. 

Given how City haven’t quite been at their best defensively this season, Fulham will be confident they can get on the scoresheet once again. 

However, their main challenge will be keeping the Citizens at bay. The hosts have scored 29 goals in their 12 Premier League games at the Etihad this season, bagging multiple times in nine of those games. They have plenty of attacking firepower, and tend to take things up a gear when they play in front of a home crowd.

Since suffering an ACL injury, Rodri has struggled with fitness, but has been reintroduced to first-team action recently after an extensive hiatus. The Ballon d’Or winner has played a part in eleven of the last 12 matches for Man City, starting each of the last four Premier League games. 

The Spaniard hasn’t looked at his best since returning, and has picked up three yellow cards in those eleven recent appearances. He was also sent off against Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League for two bookable offences. 

However, Rodri has been adept at drawing free-kicks in midfield areas, and he is averaging 1.78 fouls drawn per 90 this season. He has landed this selection in four of his previous seven starts, with one failure coming against Exeter City in the FA Cup. However, Rodri was replaced at half-time in that game, with the game lacking competitiveness.

Rayan Cherki had a field day in that one, as he provided two assists and really seemed to be enjoying himself.

Although he didn’t register a shot in that match, he didn’t really need to - Cherki’s shot volume has been very consistent, and he is averaging 2.89 shots per 90 this season, landing this selection in seven out of ten home matches across all competitions.

Despite only appearing for the final 30 minutes at Anfield off the bench, he did still record one shot, but had a late goal strangely disallowed by VAR. The 22-year-old has been one of the signings of the summer, and already has nine goals and ten assists to his name after just 31 appearances across all competitions.

City should be able to dominate possession midweek, making this a solid matchup to target Cherki.