Manchester United -v- Fulham
Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester
Saturday 24 February 2023, KO 15:00 GMT
Manchester United welcome Fulham to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon in a traditional 3pm kick off. Erik ten Hag will be seeking to continue United’s unbeaten run of 2024 with six wins and one draw since the turn of the New Year. United seem to be in better form.
Fulham have not had a good season but have also not had a bad season. At the time of writing, they sit in 12th place in the league with 29 points. United sit in sixth place with 44 points, just five points short of fourth-placed Aston Villa with United needing top four this season.
This will be the first match after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s partial takeover of the club, so will be a big occasion at the Theatre of Dreams, which could well be getting a facelift with the area subject to significant redevelopment, which was announced recently. A good era to begin now?
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Luton 2-1 W, Villa 2-1 W, West Ham 3-0 W, Wolves 4-3 W, Newport 4-2 W, Spurs 2-2 D
Goals: 13 – Rasmus Hojlund, 8 – Scott McTominay, 7 – Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, 5 – Marcus Rashford, 4 – Casemiro, 2 – Diogo Dalot, Kobbe Mainoo, Anthony Martial, 1 – Antony, Christian Eriksen, Hannibal, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane
Assists: 7 – Bruno Fernandes, 5 – Marcus Rashford, 3 – Diogo Dalot, Alejandro Garnacho, 2 – Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 1 – Antony, Jonny Evans, Omari Forson, Victor Lindelof, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martínez, Mason Mount, Facundo Pellistri, Luke Shaw
Fulham – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Villa 2-1 L, Bournemouth 3-1 W, Burnley 2-2 D, Everton 0-0 D, Newcastle 2-0 L, Liverpool 1-1 (3-2) L
Goals: 6 – Bobby De Cordova-Reid, 5 – Raúl Jiménez, Rodrigo Muniz, Willian, 4 – Alex Iwobi, 3 – João Palhinha, Carlos Vinícius, Harry Wilson, 2 – Tom Cairney, 1 – Issa Diop, Andreas Pereira, Tim Ream, Kenny Tete, Tosin
Assists: 6 – Andreas Pereira, Harry Wilson, 5 – Antonee Robinson, 3 – Tom Cairney, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, 2 – Willian, 1 – Alex Iwobi, João Palhinha, Harrison Reed
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Fulham have met 33 times in the Premier League. United have won 24 matches, drawn six matches with Fulham winning six times. United have scored 73 goals, winning two penalties, scoring one. Fulham have scored 33 goals, winning three penalties, scoring two.
United have kept 12 clean sheets against Fulham, who have kept two clean sheets against United. Discipline has been an issue with United players getting 46 yellow cards and two red cards with Fulham players getting 48 yellow cards and one red card.
Andreas Pereira, Dimitar Berbatov, Andy Cole, Louis Saha, Edwin van de Sar, Paul Parker, Kieran Richardson, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Chris Smalling, Tim Fosu-Mensah, George Best and Charlie Mitten have all played for both Manchester United and Fulham.
Team News
Lisandro Martinez (knee), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (leg), Mason Mount (calf) and Anthony Martial (groin) and Luke Shaw (other) are all ruled out of the clash with Fulham due to injury. United will have problems with the left-back position, but have some options.
Diogo Dalot could play at left-back which could see Victor Lindelof playing at right-back. But that said, Dalot could remain at right-back with Sofyan Amrabat playing at left-back as he did earlier in the season. Ten Hag could utilise some youth players in the squad too, which would be good.
Raul Jimenez (thigh) has been ruled out due to injury with Joao Palhinha is suspended. Armando Broja has a 75% chance of being fit if he overcomes an illness whilst Kenny Tete (calf/shin/heel) has a 50% chance of featuring against United. Fulham will miss some of the unavailable players.
Predicted United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Onana;
Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Amrabat;
Casemiro, Mainoo;
Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford;
Hojlund
Predicted Fulham Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Leno;
Castagne, Diop, Ream, Robinson;
Lukic, Cairney;
De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian;
Muniz
Match Prediction
United have created something since the start of 2024 and are undefeated, which is something that Ten Hag will need to keep going as long as possible. United need to try and break into the top four this season and are five points from doing that – but other results will complicate this.
Against Fulham, who have always been lively against United, Ten Hag’s side will need to take control once again and push for the victory. Granted, against both Villa and Luton, it has been close for United with 2-1 wins in both matches. United will need to dig deep and get the result.
Rasmus Hojlund is a player in great form at this stage of the season with seven goals in his last six matches, which shows a major positive compared to the start of the season for him. United have established themselves as positive work in progress once again – which is great!
Manchester United 2-1 Fulham
Written by Paul
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