Fulham head coach Marco Silva has insisted that his side “will do their maximum” to defeat Manchester City on Saturday and dismissed any idea that his side would lack motivation for the game.
Fulham have already secured their top flight status this season and are not fighting for anything more than league position in their remaining two games. Manchester City, meanwhile, are still fighting for the title.
Their title rivals, Arsenal, require Manchester City to drop points in at least one of their remaining three games if they are to claim the Premier League crown.
“We are going to do our job like we have done this season, that’s it,” said Silva. “We will prepare ourselves for the match and we are going to do our maximum to get points for us and not do favours for others.”
Fulham have a poor record against Manchester City. The west London club have lost their last 15 league meetings with the champions, and defeat on Saturday would mark a new English Football League record for the most consecutive defeats against one side.
However, while they suffered a 5-1 defeat at the Etihad earlier this season, they did reduce City to just seven shots, City’s joint third lowest return this season. Fulham’s defensive record has also improved, and only Arsenal or City have conceded fewer goals in 2024 than Fulham.
A video published on Instagram this week showed Fulham players flying a kite at the club’s training ground, leading to some on social media to question their motivation.
But Silva dismissed any questions about the kites, insisting it was a noise created on social media, and said his team will be ready for City.
“I have been motivating our players every single week,” he said. “We achieved 39 points around the international break, the questions I faced then were about motivation and the English expression about if the players would be ‘on the beach’. It’s not the case, and it’s not something I need to spend time talking about with my players.
“They know the demands every day. If they are relaxed, I’m the first one to put pressure on them. That’s the way we’ve worked for three years. That won’t be different now because of where we are in the table.”
Fulham will be without Sasa Lukic for Saturday’s early kick off, as he will miss out as a precaution following a small calf issue.
The futures of Ajax players such as Jordan Henderson and Steven Bergwijn have been cast into doubt as the club counts the cost of missing out on Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season.
Henderson arrived as a free agent in January, having terminated his contract at Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq, signing until June 2026.
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