Manchester City return to Premier League action this weekend and the spotlight could well be on Josko Gvardiol at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side are fresh from beating Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in the Champions League and will be optimistic of getting three points against the Cottagers.
Manchester City have drawn their last two in the league and could do with getting back on track before the next international break commences.
Fulham come to the Etihad Stadium in good form. They have taken 11 points from their six games so far and currently sit sixth in the table.
Marco Silva is doing a great job, and might fancy his side to cause a shock.
There are certainly threats in this Fulham team, and one man in particular needs keeping quiet.
Josko Gvardiol must beware Adama Traore in Man City vs Fulham
City are favourites to win on Saturday but Fulham need respecting.
They have started well under Marco Silva and look as though they could perhaps make a push for Europe this season.
City need to win their key battles, and it is especially important that Josko Gvardiol gets a handling on Adama Traore.
Traore is now in his second season at Fulham after leaving Wolves, and the Spanish winger has made a lively start to the 2024/25 campaign with one goal and two assists so far.
He has started every league game so far for the Cottagers, playing exclusively on the right wing.
This will likely mean he and Gvardiol – who was outstanding against Newcastle United last weekend – go head-to-head on Saturday and City need their Croatian star to bring his A-game.
Fans will certainly remember when Wolves beat City 2-0 at the Etihad back in October 2019, when Traore scored two late goals on the counter.
A test for Gvardiol
Traore has previous at the Etihad and Fulham are likely going to want to use his pace on the counter, as Wolves did so successfully back in 2019.
This will be a good test for Gvardiol, who must make sure he doesn’t leave too much space in behind when going forward.
He’s started the season really well for City, with his fellow countryman Mateo Kovacic already placing him in his all-time Croatian PL XI this week.
It actually wouldn’t be all that surprising if Pep Guardiola decided to play Kyle Walker at left-back purely to try and nullify Traore, although he is not in good form so £77 million man Gvardiol will probably start as normal.
City are going to have most of the ball, but it is so important they watch out for Traore’s pace on the counter especially.
