Fulham preview

If we are to do anything this season we need these games - at home against anyone but the very best - to be routine wins. We need to cruise through them with the same air of presumption and entitlement that the big four do. Not that it will be that easy: Fulham are a decent side. But we need visiting teams to feel as if they're beaten when they come to Eastlands, as they do at Anfield or Old Trafford.

And I don't think it is hubristic to say that we should be winning this, comfortably. Fulham are good, yes, but they are not excellent and simply do not have the quality that we do. Since our last game they have played twice. And we're at home. It ought to be remembered, though, how disproportionately good Fulham's record at City is: since the start of the 2005/06 season they have won only nine away games in the Premier League - and three of them have been at Eastlands.

The team looks good too: Wright-Phillips' dip in form has seen him dropped to the bench with Martin Petrov and Craig Bellamy playing on the wings. Everything else is as expected, with Captain Kolo back in the side and Micah Richards replacing the suspended Pablo Zabaleta at right back. Prediction? 2-0.