Manchester City lacks a defensive midfielder; despite Donnarumma's strength, they conceded 9 goals in 3 matches. They won 5-4 away at Fulham thanks to an own goal.

At 03:30 on December 3rd Beijing time, in the 14th round of the Premier League, Manchester City played an away match against Fulham.

In the first half, Doku assisted Haaland to break the deadlock, then Haaland set up Reijnders to extend the lead. Foden scored, and Smith Rowe pulled one back in stoppage time, with City leading 3-1 at halftime. In the second half, Foden scored again to complete his brace, Doku caused an own goal by Bogle, putting City 5-1 ahead. It seemed settled, but then Iwobi scored, followed by two goals from Chukwuemeka.

In the end, Manchester City narrowly defeated Fulham 5-4 away, reducing the gap to league leaders Arsenal to 2 points with a game in hand.

In the Fulham vs. Man City match, Silva lined up a 4-2-3-1 formation with a starting lineup valued at €214 million;Guardiola deployed a 4-3-3 formation with Haaland leading the attack, flanked by Doku and Foden. Reijnders, González, and Bernardo Silva formed the midfield trio, while O’Reilly, Gvardiol, Dias, and Nunes made up the back four. Donnarumma was in goal, with a starting lineup worth €697 million.

In this game, City showed their usual style and recurring issues, focusing on possession and attack. This season they've increased their attacking pace, with the Doku-Haaland connection being the main theme. The young Foden was on fire, scoring twice in consecutive games. By the 54th minute, City led 5-1, seemingly securing the win early. However, City's problem lies in the defensive midfield and their poor interception and tackling ability in the center. When playing open attacking football, City’s defense struggles—not due to defenders or goalkeeper, but because the midfield lacks toughness. Fortunately, after Fulham scored three times, City still managed a narrow 5-4 away victory, scraping three points.

Donnarumma is one of the best active goalkeepers; this Italian keeper is excellent, but City’s midfield is weak. Since Rodri’s injury, he has suffered minor setbacks and the Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder is unlikely to return to his peak. Caicedo is hard to come by. Without a quality defensive midfielder, City has conceded 9 goals in their last 3 matches across all competitions, averaging 3 per game. In my opinion, without a top-class defensive midfielder, City can comfortably finish in the top five but won’t win the Premier League. The same applies to the Champions League—they cannot handle tough matches unless they play perfect counterattacking football in cup competitions.

Match statistics further illustrate that City’s win was narrow, as they were inferior in possession, total shots, and shots on target.City had 43% possession in this game, with 11 shots in total—one less than Fulham—and 4 shots on target, two fewer than Fulham..