City bid to march ahead with a win

London: Having had their lead wiped out in midweek Manchester City have the chance to steal a march on their Premier League title rivals when they host Fulham today.

A surprise 1-0 defeat by Everton combined with Manchester United's 2-0 victory over Stoke City left both clubs on 54 points, five ahead of third-placed Tottenham Hotspur. However, this weekend's fixtures offer some comfort for City whose start to 2012 has been anything but impressive.

United face Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, where they have not won for 10 years, while Tottenham visit Anfield on Monday for a tough-looking match against a Liverpool side buoyed by the return of Luis Suarez from an eight-match ban. City, badly missing the midfield authority of Yaya Toure who is still away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast, have won all 11 home league games this season while Fulham have managed just one victory on the road.

It all points to Roberto Mancini's side opening a three-point gap, at least for 24 hours, but as United boss Alex Ferguson is never slow to point out, victories in the run-in can never be taken for granted, whoever the opposition. "Maybe I thought before the game maybe it was easier," Mancini said after the defeat at Goodison Park. "I don't want to do the same mistake next Saturday. I'm disappointed for my mistake."

Mancini has David Pizarro available for the Fulham game after signing the Chile midfielder from AS Roma on loan. Pizarro, who was with Mancini at Inter Milan when they won the Scudetto in 2006, has not featured much this season but believes he can help City get over the winning line.

"It is a great opportunity to create history and be part of this club's history, that is my aim, to help the squad achieve the target which is to win the league title," Pizarro said.