Manchester United vs Fulham: The Preview

Were back!

The new Premier League season kicks off Friday evening with Manchester United hosting Fulham at Old Trafford.

Hopefully we’ll see improvements on and off the pitch after a tumultuous year at the club. It’s the 10th time in 11 seasons that United will begin their league campaign at home; the visit of Fulham will make it a record eight years on the spin.

Last season saw a disappointing league and European campaign, but it did end on a good note as we beat neighbours Manchester City to lift the FA Cup. However, we lost out in the Community Shield to our city rivals in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in the annual curtain-raiser to the start of the season.

Erik Ten Hag remains in charge despite much speculation last season and he has added some familiar faces to his coaching setup with former player Ruud Van Nistelrooy returning to the club. Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have arrived from Bayern Munich to add much-needed depth to the defence.

The pre-season has seen mixed results with three defeats from the five games which ended in a 3-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool. At Old Trafford, United lost six of the nineteen league games on home turf which included against opponents Fulham.

Manchester United Team News

For United, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have both arrived from Bayern Munich and could play some part of the Fulham game as United looked to shore up their defence ahead of the Premier League return. Fellow defender Leny Yoro is set to be out for the next three months after suffering a foot injury during pre-season. Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelöf are set to miss out too. Harry Maguire who started against Manchester City but still lacked full-match fitness will be in the squad.

Rasmus Højlund, who was United’s joint top league scorer last season, will be unable to link up with the new signing and potential strike partner Joshua Zirkzee until after recovering from his injury. Though he did not make an appearance at Wembley, the Dutch international could be handed a start on Friday evening. Ten Hag may decide to use Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes as a false nine.

Manchester United Possible Lineup

Onana;

Dalot, De Ligt, Martinez, Mazraoui;

Casemiro, Mainoo;

Amad, Fernandes, Rashford;

Zirkzee

Opposition Preview

Fulham had lost the previous 24 matches against United before they came away with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford back in February. They are now looking to win back-to-back wins for the first time. The Cottagers are still looking to add to the squad following the departures of Tosin Adarabioyo, Joao Palhinha and Tim Ream.

They ended last season’s campaign in 13th place. Whilst they played well at Craven Cottage, it was away from home they lacked consistency. Fulham won two of the last three away games last season, drawing the other doubling the amount of victories they had from the first 16 games. Three of the last four encounters between both sides have seen the away side win with late winning goals.

Fulham Team News

With the departure of forward Aleksandar Mitrovic last season, the main attacking threat came from Rodrigo Muniz who scored nine league goals. He will be supported by ex-United player Andreas Pereira alongside new signing Emile Smith-Rowe who is expected to play at Old Trafford. Another new player Jorge Cuenca may need more time to adapt to his surroundings. This would likely see Issa Diop and Calvin Bassey could be the centre-back pairing against United.

Form Guide

Manchester United (all competitions inc pre-season): LLWLWL

Fulham pre-season form: WLW

Prediction

United will want to improve on their defensive discipline this season, especially at home, so the opposition do not have free reign to score. It is important to get the season off to a good start and we should have more than enough attacking-wise to come away with the win.

Manchester United 3-0 Fulham