Manchester City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium for the late Saturday kick off, with Roberto Mancini knowing that a win is vital to open up a three point gap from rivals Man Utd, who travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Captain Vincent Kompany misses the game today with a knee injury, Savic replaces him at centre back. Kolarov is preferred to Clichy at left back while Samir Nasri and Adam Johnson also start, as does Eden Dzeko. Mario Balotelli remains out as he serves his four-match ban.

Here are the confirmed starting line-ups:

Man City Team

Hart, Lescott, Richards (c), Savic, Kolarov, Barry, Silva, Johnson, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko

SUBS: Pantilimon, Clichy, Zabaleta, de Jong, Milner, Pizarro, Rekik

Fulham Team

Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Baird, Murphy, Senderos, Duff, Etuhu, Dempsey, Davies, Dembele

SUBS: Stockdale, J A Riise, Hughes, Gecov, Frei, Kasami, Ruiz

Head over to William Hill for all the latest match odds and great welcome bonuses

Follow @footballtalk1   Follow Football Talk on Twitter