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It will be a spectacle when Manchester United welcome Londoners Fulham to Old Trafford in the Premier League. It is a clash between two teams from different cities in the United Kingdom. While the Red Devils have blown hot and cold this season, the Cottagers have threaded the same path for most of the campaign as well.
The Red Devils have had a roller-coaster campaign under Erik Ten Hag this term, and at some point, it has been comical. Harry Maguire, who was one of the worst players at the club last season has become one of the best players. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford, who was the main man in attack has dropped form so much that youngster Alejandro Garnacho has taken over his place in the starting eleven.
Manchester United’s disappointing campaign started with their transfer decisions. Following the departures of Elanga, Dean Henderson, Alex Telles, Eric Bailly, and Mason Greenwood, Manchester United made strategic additions to their squad, welcoming Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount, Andre Onana, Sofyan Amrabat, Johnny Evans, and Sergio Reguillon.
Their poor transfer decisions have haunted them this season, and that has seen them lose embarrassingly to teams like Tottenham, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Brighton. The smaller teams have also had their bite of the cherry, with Crystal Palace, and Bournemouth. Onana has been a shadow of the goalkeeper he was at Inter Milan, making some mistakes which have cost the club. The poor recruitment has left the side in a bad place but they are not totally out of sight as they could finish strong and book a spot in Europe next season.
On the flip side, a couple of positives for the Red Devils include beating Chelsea 2-1 and thrashing Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park before a goalless draw at Anfield with Liverpool. Apart from that, they got knocked out of Europe completely before losing to Forest and West Ham on the road. United sit just outside the top 5 and a run of fine results could propel them to greater heights before the season comes to an end.
Fulham’s season started on the best of notes with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park. A comprehensive 3-0 win over Fulham and a draw against Arsenal followed at the Emirates before a 5-1 bashing at the hands of champions Man City at the Etihad. The Cottagers returned to winning ways with an important 1-0 win over Luton Town before failing to win their next two Premier League games against Palace and Chelsea. After that, they only won one of their next five games to drop further down the table.
To round things up in 2023, Fulham lost two of their final three Premier League games with the only win coming against Arsenal at the Craven Cottage. Meanwhile, they had a good run in the Carabao Cup and got to the semi-finals of the tournament before they were thrown out of the competition by Liverpool. In their first PL game of 2024, they lost 1-0 to Chelsea and there will be the desire to build on some of the decent performances in recent weeks.
Manchester United have the past four meetings between the sides including the reverse fixture earlier in the season and they will be approaching this match with a lot of confidence.
Match tickets
The epic match at Old Trafford in Manchester kicks off on Saturday 24th February 2024, at 3 PM UK time.
United’s 74,031-capacity stadium will be playing host to this fixture between the Premier League strugglers and the Red Devils.
Getting tickets for the Manchester United v Fulham tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
The issues surrounding England forward Jadon Sancho have finally been sorted following his return to Borussia Dortmund. Goalkeeper Andre Onana is expected to be back from AFCON duties with Cameroon. Manchester have struggled this season, with a lot of their players suffering injuries. Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, and Victor Lindelof could make their return before this game. Meanwhile, Anthony Martial, who just underwent surgery, is not expected back for a while.
Manchester United XI: Andre Onana; Harry Maguire, Johnny Evans, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka; Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen; Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Rashford.
Coach Marco Silva still has some players out injured including winger Adama Traore who has been battling hamstring issues since September. The Likes of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and Fode Ballo-Toure, who were at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, should all have returned from their breaks for this trip to Manchester.
Silva will be pleased with the recent return to form of striker Raul Jimenez and he will be counting on the Mexican for this game against the Red Devils.
Fulham XI: Leno, Castagne, Tosin, Diop, Robinson, Palhinha, Cairney, De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian, and Jimenez.
Prediction
With the season reaching its midpoint, both teams would be looking to start churning out results to seal a spot in Europe. Manchester United and Fulham have conceded a lot of goals this season, but they are capable of scoring a lot as well.
However, Manchester United could just edge it a little because they will be playing in front of their home fans. But Fulham will take solace from the fact that the Red Devils have lost four Premier League games at home this season.
Manchester United 2-1 Fulham
