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Manchester City will
today continue with their quest to secure a berth into next season’s
UEFA Champions League with a game against Fulham at the City of
Manchester Stadium. Their current position on the Premier League
standings guarantees them a historic spot in next season’s competition
but they will go a long way in further cementing that fact if they
emerge victorious at the end of today’s tie against a side managed by
their former boss Mark Hughes.

And that looks
likely to be the case if one considers the fact that the visitors from
London have won just six times in 25 league visits to Eastlands.
However, Fulham’s recent record at Manchester City has been quite
impressive with three wins, three draws and only two defeats in eight
Premier League visits with their most recent result being a 2-2 draw in
last season’s campaign when they had to come from a two-goal deficit to
claim a remarkable draw thanks to a 68th minute equaliser from Clint
Dempsey. But that aside, they face a Manchester City side who ran out
4-1 winners last time both sides met in November at Craven Cottage
courtesy of goals from Yaya Toure,

Pablo Zabaleta and
Carlos Tevez, who grabbed a brace, with Zoltan Gera claiming a
consolation goal for the home side on that occasion.

Also, they face a
Manchester City side that has, in keeping with the defensive policy of
their Italian manager Roberto Mancini, kept 12 clean sheets in this
season’s Premier League.

Although, their last
outing in the league saw them go down 2-1 to Manchester United at Old
Trafford, City will be buoyed by more encouraging results in the FA Cup
and Europa League that have followed.

Last weekend they
walloped Notts County 5-0 in the FA Cup before following it up with a
3-0 triumph over Aris Salonika in midweek, which booked them a spot in
the Europa League last 16. Injuries But City have won just one of their
last four Premier League games, which came against West Brom and will
be without the influential duo of Adam Johnson and Nigel de Jong who are
both down with ankle injuries. Micah Johnson is also down with a calf
injury while James Milner is also expected to miss out through a
hamstring injury. Irish goalkeeper Shay Given has also been ruled out
for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury even though he
would have had to settle for a berth on the reserve bench owing to the
impressive form of Joe Hart.

Fulham head into
today’s game unbeaten in three of their last games, including two
successive draws against Chelsea and Aston Villa, but they also have
injury concerns of their own. Midfielder Steve Sidwell has been ruled
out for four weeks after damaging knee ligaments, while Philippe
Senderos and Diomansy Kamara are down with back problems. But the
biggest injury problem facing them is Bobby Zamora who suffered a fresh
injury blow on Friday and is doubtful to appear for Fulham.

The striker, who
only returned from five months out with a broken leg in last Sunday’s FA
Cup defeat to Bolton, went over on his ankle in training and faced a
fitness test on Saturday and looks a major doubt for today’s game.

However, Hughes is boosted by the return of Simon Davies (ankle) and Damien Duff (calf).

Liverpool at Upton
Park The other game billed for today in the Premier League comes up at
Upton Park where West Ham will be hoping to secure a win that will
propel them out of the relegation zone against a Liverpool side aspiring
for a top-four finish. Avram Grant’s team have been horribly
inconsistent in the league but must now build on their unlikely recovery
at The Hawthorns in their last outing, together with the FA Cup
thrashing inflicted on Burnley, to inject real momentum into their
campaign. But Liverpool have lost only once at Upton Park since 1999
and could move within three points of fifth-placed Chelsea with a win.
Kenny Dalglish side’s are also unbeaten in eight games and look set to
be boosted today with the return of captain Steven Gerrard after a
three-game absence with a groin injury.

The England international was not risked in last Thursday night’s
Europa League game against Sparta Prague but manager Dalglish later
said the midfielder was close to fitness although there remains doubts
over the fitness levels of Martin Kelly and Daniel Agger, who were both
forced off against Sparta. Fabio Aurelio is equally out of today’s game
as is Andy Carroll who will need to wait another day before making his
debut for the Reds. Luis Suarez will however return to the starting
line-up after being ineligible for the game against Sparta.