Man City forward Julian Alvarez has big Fulham opportunity

Julian Alvarez has fond memories of Fulham

It was in this fixture last season that the Argentine rocketed a goal in from Ilkay Gundogan's through ball to show that he could flourish as the No.9 without Erling Haaland. His performance in the away game was enough to convince Pep Guardiola that he had to find a way of getting him into a team alongside both Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.

With Haaland not fully firing yet this season and De Bruyne injured, Juanma Lillo and the coaches are in need of players to step up. Alvarez did it himself with Phil Foden against Newcastle before Rodri smashed home the winner at Sheffield United.

In what is expected to be a year where he kicks on, Alvarez will have Fulham down as a game where he can again show why he is rated so highly.

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Guardiola was left annoyed at Joao Cancelo's error when Fulham were last here, so perhaps it is fitting that he will not be in the manager's plans for this game. A penalty and a red card from a needless challenge turned a comfortable match into a difficult one.

Those errors looked to be a thing of the past with the defence, although Kyle Walker's mistake at Bramall Lane at the weekend was a daft one. A more solid showing will be expected when the West London side arrive on Saturday.

It would be a surprise to see new signing Matheus Nunes in the team given he has not been training with his club since the move from Wolves - and wasn't training with Wolves before his exit. Jeremy Doku was on the bench at Sheffield United after signing from Rennes so has more chance of starting.

Both will hope for at least some minutes, not least because if they don't then they will have to