Manchester United’s trip to Craven Cottage to take on promoted Fulham on Sunday serves to wrap up the final Premier League round ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
A stoppage-time penalty converted by Erling Haaland broke the hearts of the Cottagers fans as Manchester City’s hard-earned 2-1 home triumph knocked them down from a four-game unbeaten league run (W2, D2).
Chief of staff Marco Silva has had a week to rally his troops ahead of Man Utd’s visit to London as his men look to tip an evenly-balanced Premier League start (W5, D4, L5) in their favour.
Not long ago, Fulham would have been a doomed outfit long before the kick-off, yet they have changed the narrative this season as they enter this round only four points below their visitors.
Visiting Man Utd brought the phrase ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’ into life in midweek EFL Cup action, pulling off a stellar second-half comeback to oust Aston Villa 4-2 at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag’s men may have avenged last week’s dreadful 3-1 defeat at Villa Park, but a consequence of an underwhelming result in Birmingham has been a demotion to fifth in the Premier League table.
In theory, the Red Devils can still enter the World Cup break as the owners of a coveted fourth place, but it’d require them to beat Fulham and Leeds United to win away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Regardless of whatever happens in north London, Man Utd cannot settle for anything less than three points at Craven Cottage, knowing they have a job on their hands fighting for a top-four finish when the league restarts in December.
Match Preview
Fulham
Despite the odds, Fulham have turned Craven Cottage into a fortress this season, going unbeaten in six of their seven Premier League home fixtures thus far (W3, D3).
By contrast, the Cottagers have lost their last five top-flight meetings with Man Utd on home turf, failing to trouble the scoresheet three times in that sequence.
Home and away, they have accrued a measly two wins across their last 25 Premier League matches against the Red Devils (D5, L18), most recently in 2009.
Manchester United
Replacing Harry Maguire with Lisandro Martinez at the heart of Man Utd’s backline has paid dividends, with only three Premier League sides registering more blank sheets than ten Hag’s team this term (five).
Yet scoring has been an issue for United, even though you’d expect them to flourish in the attacking third based on a star-studded frontline, especially when playing outside Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have netted precisely one goal across their last three competitive away games despite getting on the scoreboard before half-time twice in that run of matches.
Fulham vs Manchester United Potential Line-ups
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Bobby Decordova-Reid, Issa Diop, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Tom Cairney, Joao Palhinha; Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira, Willian; Carlos Vinicius.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): David de Gea; Tyrell Malacia, Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes; Antony, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.
How to Watch?
Fulham vs Manchester United, alongside all other fixtures in England’s top flight, is available to watch online via live Premier League streams.
Fulham vs Manchester United Prediction
The absence of standout striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will likely blunt Fulham’s cutting edge, making it infinitely more comfortable for Man Utd to contain their attacks.
But it’s up to ten Hag’s men to replicate their free-flowing attacking performance that picked Villa apart on Thursday, which could prove a hard part.
We still expect the Red Devils to take home three points.
Fulham 1-2 Manchester United
