Hello and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE text commentary of the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Fulham at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's side start the day in 11th but can climb as high as fourth with victory over Scott Parker's 17th-placed Cottagers. Team news to follow, stay with us for manager comments, match stats and much more before the action starts in one hour's time.

Fulham are working incredibly hard but City have already scored and created two or three really good chances. This could end up a cricket score.

Total domination from City in the first 15 minutes. 72 per cent of possession, five shots and three on target.

Good save! De Bruyne, with just one goal to his name this season, sees his shot from the angle take a wicked deflection. It's creeping at the near post but Areola does well to keep it out.

Good defending from Fulham's captain Andersen who clears at the near post from Cancelo's dangerous cross at the expense of a corner.

There's much space in the middle as Cancelo races forward, with the run of De Bruyne sucking in Fulham defenders. The wingback cuts onto his left foot and curls a shot well over the bar.

Adarabioyo rises highest to meet the deep delivery from the corner but he can't generate enough power in his header to find the top corner he was searching for.

But Lookman is always a threat for Fulham, and he dances into the City penalty area only to see his shot deflected behind for a corner. Now, can the visitors drag themselves back into the game from this set-piece?

Like they did against Burnley, City have the lead early doors. It could be a long old afternoon for Fulham alright.

GOAL! Man City 1-0 Fulham (Raheem Sterling): There is no mistake this time! It's another assist for De Bruyne, who unlocks the Fulham defence with a beautifully-weighted pass into the path of Sterling. He races through and tucks it past Areola for his sixth goal of the season.

Big save! Fulham's game plan is almost ruined but for a fantastic stop by Areola. The visitors are totally asleep at the back as Mahrez slipped through Sterling but his finish lacked any conviction and Areola saves with his foot.

Fulham, as expected, are playing with a back five. They'll expect City to have plenty of the ball, and the plan will be to sit deep and hope they can play effectively on the counter-attack like they did at Leicester on Monday.

Kick-off! The players take the knee and then City get us underway!

FIVE minutes until kick-off at the Etihad! It's Manchester City versus Fulham in the Premier League. It's LIVE and it's NEXT!

Interesting.

Man City looked back to their brilliant best in the 5-0 victory over Burnley last Saturday, although they were held to a goalless draw by Porto in midweek. Will Fulham manage to contain them or will City - who are without Sergio Aguero - prove too strong?

Did you know? Fulham are winless in their last 15 meetings with Man City in all competitions (D3 L12) since a 3-1 Premier League win at the Etihad in April 2009.

Parker: "When you do get a result against a very tough team, I don’t think anyone expected us to get a result and we went and got a result and played extremely well. So with that brings a little bit of extra confidence and an extra bit of belief and that helps on the way. So a big result for us on Monday and something for us to build on. Not just to build on come Saturday or against Liverpool but for the remainder of the season really.”

Everton draw with Burnley to stay in seventh and are one of seven teams City can leapfrog with victory today. It's a result that doesn't do either side any favours as the Clarets remain 19th, a point behind Fulham.

Pep has been explaining the decision to start Stones today to BT Sport: "John played really good last two games, he deserved to continue to play. It always depends on performance. The skills and qualities are there or you couldn’t play for Man City. So it’s how you perform every training session every day."

Pre-match stat: Manchester City have won each of their last nine meetings with Fulham in all competitions, netting 27 goals while conceding just three in this run.

So what can we make of Laporte's exclusion? Well, here's what Pep said in Friday's press conference: "This is about the performance, not about the quality. The quality we know they have, they are top players but it’s about performance. The performance has to be better and better than the day before."