Fulham -v- Manchester United
Premier League
Craven Cottage, London
Sunday 13 November 2022, KO 16:30 GMT
Manchester United will travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. It will be the final match that United will play before the FIFA World Cup which will see a number of players head to Qatar with those left in Manchester having some time off before a winter training break in Spain with friendly matches being played.
United fell to Aston Villa in the league on Sunday but dispatched the Birmingham club 4-2 in the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening. It was one of the best matches in the past few weeks for United which saw Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay all score goals and Alejandro Garnacho get two assists and Fernandes get one.
It is important for United to beat Fulham and finish ahead of the FIFA World Cup on a high, getting over the blip that was the Villa match last weekend. United have shown that some changes in the team can do a lot of difference and losing Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad has once again enhanced United, which is a good thing. United play at a quicker pace without him.
Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Aston Villa 4-2 W, Aston Villa 3-1 L, Real Sociedad 0-0 WDL, West Ham United 1-0 W, Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 W, Chelsea 1-1 D
Goals: 8 – Marcus Rashford, 4 – Anthony Martial, 3 – Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, 2 – Own Goal, Scott McTominay, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Fred, Alejandro Garnacho
Assists: 5 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Martial, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luke Shaw, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Jadon Sancho
Fulham – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Manchester City 2-1 L, Everton 0-0 D, Leeds United 3-2 W, Aston Villa 3-0 W, Bournemouth 2-2 D, West Ham United 3-1 L
Goals: 9 – Aleksandar Mitrovic, 3 – Bobby De Cordova-Reid, 2 – João Palhinha, Andreas Pereira, Harrison Reed, 1 – Issa Diop, Tosin, Willian
Assists: 4 – Andreas Pereira, 3 – Neeskens Kebano, Kenny Tete, 1 – Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Kevin Mbabu, Harrison Reed, Willian
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Fulham have met 30 times in the Premier League. United have won 21 times, drawing six times with Fulham winning three times. United have scored 68 goals, winning two penalties, scoring one. Fulham have scored 31 goals, winning two penalties, scoring both. Fulham are a team in some good form this season and will be a threat against United.
United have kept a total of 11 clean sheets with Fulham keeping two. There have been some disciplinary issues with United players shown 42 yellow cards and two red cards. Fulham players have been shown 40 yellow cards and one red card. United hit a blip against Villa in the league on Sunday, beating them in the Carabao Cup. It is important to win this match.
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. Best is probably the most well-known along with van de Sar, Cole, Berbatov, Mitten and Smalling.
Team News
Raphael Varane, Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams are all ruled out of the clash with Fulham due to injury. Diogo Dalot is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card in the match against Aston Villa last weekend. Jadon Sancho has been ill and has a 25% chance of featuring in this match, which suggests he will miss it. Antony will be subject to a late fitness test.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the victory over Villa on Thursday evening and with United playing at a faster pace without him, and scoring four goals, he could also miss the Fulham match, taking a position on the bench now that Anthony Martial is back from his latest injury. Donny van de Beek’s form has been terrible and he will be lucky to get on this pitch this weekend.
Aleksandar Mitrovic, Neeskens Kebano and Manor Solomon have all been ruled out due to injury. Harrison Reed and Kenny Tete are both suspended for this match after amassing five yellow cards so far this season. Bobby De Cordova-Reid is eligible for this match having served his suspension in the last match. Fulham could have some problems against United.
Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw;
Casemiro, Eriksen;
Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho;
Martial
Predicted Fulham Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Leno;
Mbabu, Diop, Ream, Robinson;
Cairney, Palhinha;
Wilson, Pereira, Willian;
Vinicius
Match Prediction
I think United will have built up their confidence in the 4-2 victory over Aston Villa on Thursday evening which will put them in good stead to face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. United’s defeat to Villa last Sunday at Villa Park will have hit them as the performance was worse than pathetic and something needed to give, which came on Thursday.
Some of United’s players might be thinking about the FIFA World Cup but they will be kept grounded by the manager as he bids to see United win one last time before the squad is broken up for the international tournament in Qatar later this month. United sit fifth in the Premier League ahead of the match and it looks likely that is where they will still be afterwards – with a victory.
Fulham could be a problem for United as they held out against Manchester City last weekend and could do the same thing against United, seeing as Villa played them off the pitch a week before this match. United will need to be in the same frame of mind as they were in the second half against Villa on Thursday evening and ready to punish them. United have that in them.
Fulham 1-3 Manchester United
Written by John Walker
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