My 5 Keys to Victory for Fulham Against Manchester City

Fulham will play tomorrow against Manchester City at Craven Cottage. The game takes place at 3PM UK time and 11 AM EST. Fulham are coming off a victory against Juventus on Thursday Night. Manchester City are coming off  a 1 - 1 draw at Sunderland last week. Manchester City are still fighting to get into the top four. They are a very explosive team, and it will be a huge challenge for Fulham to win this match.

Please feel free to check out the preview of this game from our SBNation Manchester City site" Bitter and Blue right here". This is a real good preview of the match from the perspective of Manchester City. I would highly recommend this site for all fans of the EPL.

 My Fulham preview consists of my "keys" to the match. This is an important home game for Fulham. They really need to get at least a point from this match. Since it is home they should be able to win this game. Below are My 5 Keys to Victory for Fulham against Manchester City.

1. Fulham need to stay even or ahead with Manchester City by the end of the first half. Fulham are coming off a match from Thursday Night. I really think Manchester City are going to come out aggressive and look to score early and often. In Manchester City's last match they played a horrible first half. I am sure Mancini is going to want his team to start off fast and take control of the match. Fulham need to control their emotions and just be the organized team they are in the first half. They should though look for their chances when they are available. I think if they are ahead or even at the half they have a great chance at winning this match. 

2.  What kind of lineup changes will Roy Hogdson have for this match? With the FA Cup replay this Wednesday will Hogdson be tempted to rest some important players. Dickson Etuhu did get injured in the match on Thursday. Clint Dempsey is still probably not at 100% fitness yet. I personally think he will not rest players, as this game is important. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes Roy makes to his starting lineup. Danny Murphy and Jonathan Greening are both available after being suspended for the last match. Will Chris Baird go back to right back? I will be curious to see who plays in central midfield and who plays at right back.

3. Fulham need to control the central midfield against Manchester City. If Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong are in central midfield they could cause havoc. Danny Murphy being back for the match is very important. His passing skills are always needed. The question is if Etuhu can't play will Greening play in his place? Whoever are in central midfield for Fulham, they are going to need to control this area of the field. 

4.  Can Fulham take advantage of the Manchester City defense with Wayne Bridge out?  Javier Garrido will be taking his place at left back. Last year Manchester City's defense was suspect at times. In the matchup at Manchester City last year, I believe Fulham were able to exploit the defense in the second half. This year their defense is much better. With Lescott in there now they will be much harder to take advantage of. Maybe this is a game where Damien Duff could really shine. 

5. Fulham's defense needs to contain Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy. I am a huge fan of Carlos Tevez. I think it was a mistake that Manchester Untied couldn't re-sign him. He scored last year againt Fulham. He is not the only option that Fulham need to worry about. Craig Bellamy is also someone that the defense needs to pay attention to. Fulham just need to be very solid on defense.

After the excitement of the last match I am hoping Fulham will be able to put that game behind them. If they don't, they could be in trouble tomorrow. I still like Fulham in this match because they are home. I am predicting 2 - 1 in favor of Fulham.