Fulham vs Manchester United

Manchester United will be seeking a way out of a nightmare when they encounter mid-table Premier League tenants Fulham at Craven Cottage this weekend.

Fulham held Brighton to a hard-earned 1-1 draw on the road last weekend, helping manager Marco Silva celebrate his contract renewal with only a second unbeaten Premier League game in four (D1, L2). However, the ‘Cottagers’ excelled in midweek League Cup action, thumping lower-league Ipswich Town 3-1, setting themselves up nicely for Man Utd’s visit. This fixture has not been kind to Fulham down the years, considering their last H2H defeat came 14 years ago (D3, L14), with Silva’s side losing both top-flight meetings in 2022/24 via the same 2-1 scoreline. On the upside, they’ve fared well on home turf lately, racking up three wins in their last four competitive outings at Craven Cottage (L1), including two in the Premier League versus promoted Sheffield United and Luton.

If there was a time for Fulham to arrest their disastrous H2H run, it’s now, with out-of-sorts Manchester United taking this trip off the back of back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle United. Under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is on edge after becoming the first ‘Red Devils’ boss to lose consecutive home games by 3+ goal margins since 1962, let alone losing five of the first ten home matches of a new season for the first time since 1930/31. On a more positive note, they’ve been victorious on their last two Premier League travels, putting themselves in a position to win three on the trot for the first time since December 2020. Adding to this sentiment, the visitors have won their last six EPL visits to Craven Cottage, netting multiple goals on five occasions.