Fulham -v- Manchester United
Premier League
Craven Cottage, London
Sunday 26 January 2024, KO 19:00 GMT
Manchester United return to Premier League action on Sunday evening as they travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham. Ruben Amorim’s side have not been in the best of form in the Premier League, losing 3-1 to Brighton and Hove Albion in their last match but on Thursday they beat Rangers 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League.
United may have made it into the knockout stages of the Europa League but they need to win their last match against FCSB to secure their pace in the top eight of the league stage so they don’t have to play two play off matches for a place in the round of 16 – United need to avoid two additional matches.
In the Premier League this season, United need to win more matches to avoid their worst season in the league with them sitting in 13th place in the league with 26 points. Fulham sit three places above them in tenth with 33 points, seven more than United. Amorim will need to ensure his team put in the effort and win this match.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Rangers 2-1 W, Brighton 3-1 L, Southampton 3-1 W, Arsenal 1-1 (5-3) W, Liverpool 2-2 D, Newcastle 2-0 L
Goals: 9 – Amad, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, 7 – Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, 4 – Christian Eriksen, Joshua Zirkzee, 3 – Casemiro, 1 – Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez
Assists: 11 – Bruno Fernandes, 7 – Amad, 5 – Alejandro Garnacho, 4 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee, 1 – Rasmus Hojlund, Manuel Ugarte
Fulham – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Leicester 2-0 W, West Ham 3-2 L, Watford 4-1 W, Ipswich 2-2 D, Bournemouth 2-2 D, Chelsea 2-1 W
Goals: 10 – Raúl Jiménez, 7 – Alex Iwobi, 5 – Harry Wilson, 4 – Rodrigo Muniz, Emile Smith Rowe, 2 – Reiss Nelson, Andreas Pereira, Adama Traoré, 1 – Joachim Andersen, Tom Cairney, Timothy Castagne
Assists: 9 – Antonee Robinson, 4 – Adama Traoré, 3 – Alex Iwobi, 2 – Raúl Jiménez, Saša Lukić, Emile Smith Rowe, Kenny Tete, Harry Wilson, 1 – Joachim Andersen, Timothy Castagne, Martial Godo, Bernd Leno, Rodrigo Muniz, Reiss Nelson, Andreas Pereira, Ryan Sessegnon
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Fulham have met 35 times in the Premier League. United have won 25 times, drawn six times with Fulham winning four times. United have scored 75 goals, winning two penalties, scoring one. Fulham have scored 35 goals, winning three penalties, scoring two of them.
United have kept 13 clean sheets against Fulham with the London club keeping two clean sheets against United. Discipline can be an issue in these matches with United players shown 50 yellow cards and two red cards whilst Fulham players have been shown 56 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 during their careers in the game.
Team News
United: United have four players out of action at this time, although Victor Lindelof has returned to training. Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount remain unavailable, Noussair Mazraoui missed the Rangers match with a knock and both Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro came off early against Rangers with knocks of their own.
Ruled Out: Victor Lindelof (other), Luke Shaw (calf/shin/heel), Jonny Evans (other) and Mason Mount (thigh)
Doubts: Matthijs de Ligt (knock), Leny Yoro (knock) and Noussair Mazraoui (knock)
Suspended: None
Fulham: Fulham have just two players out of action for the visit of United to Craven Cottage on Sunday evening. Kenny Tete and Reiss Nelson are both unavailable for the foreseeable future. It is United who with have problems though with up to seven players that could be out of action this weekend.
Ruled Out: Kenny Tete (knee) and Reiss Nelson (thigh)
Doubts: None
Suspended: None
Predicted United Starting XI – 3-4-2-1
Onana;
Dalot, Maguire, Martinez;
Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Malacia;
Amad, Fernandes;
Hojlund
Predicted Fulham Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Leno;
Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson;
Lukic, Berge;
Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi;
Jimenez
History, training and the lead up to the big match
United and Fulham have a vast history with 92 matches being played in the history of both clubs. United have won 57 times, drawn 20 times with Fulham winning 15 times. This will be the 36th match between the two sides in the Premier League with United controlling the results in their favour so far.
United last lost to Fulham back in February 2024 – a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford. Prior to that, United had an 18 match unbeaten run with 15 victories and three draws. Earlier this season, United beat Fulham 1-0 at Old Trafford with Joshua Zirkzee scoring the only goal of the match.
United got back to winning ways by beating Rangers 2-1 un the Europa League on Thursday evening, after being defeated 3-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League last Sunday. United will need to continue that form to get somewhere this season. United owe Amorim a great performance.
Fulham 1-2 Manchester United
Written by Paul
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