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Manchester United tackle Fulham at Outdated Trafford this afternoon, trying to lengthen their unbeaten report and go stage on factors with Tottenham in fifth place.
The Pink Devils final performed at their dwelling stadium three weeks in the past, so they are going to be hoping some acquainted surroundings will assist the staff recover from the road and take the three factors to ramp up the strain on each Spurs and Aston Villa.
Fulham for his or her half, haven’t been as constant as final yr, the place they completed tenth and amassed 52 factors.
This season they sit twelfth however six factors off eleventh and nearer to the decrease reaches of the league.
Either side might be determined for the three factors and listed below are the primary points that followers are discussing forward of the sport.
How will United cope with out Rasmus Hojlund?
United have gained a couple of on the trot lately and an enormous purpose behind that has been the red-hot type of Rasmus Hojlund. Sadly, Erik ten Hag confirmed yesterday that the Dane has picked up an harm and might be out of motion for as much as three weeks.
Hojlund’s kind has additionally benefitted the remainder of the aspect as “they’ve scored 17 targets of their final seven league fixtures, having scored simply 18 of their earlier 18”.
With Anthony Martial additionally sidelined for the foreseeable future, Marcus Rashford looks as if the one option to play by means of the center. The English ahead has struggled for kind and targets this season, so asking him to play ready he has never really enjoyed, is hardly a recipe for achievement.
Furthermore, if Rashford leaves the left wing, Garnacho will seemingly should step again over to the correct, which imply Ten Hag will most likely decide to pick out Antony on the correct, which brings its personal set of issues.
Amad Diallo and Omari Forson characterize alternate options to Antony and will additionally play up entrance, leaving Rashford in his most popular place on the left. Our straw ballot of United followers would a lot reasonably see this selection than the return of quantity 21. Nonetheless, Ten Hag shouldn’t be anticipated to oblige them …
Can Antony return to some kind on his birthday?
The much-maligned Brazilian winger turns 24 right now however it’s unlikely to be a supply of celebration amongst United followers. The previous Ajax man has little help as a result of his domestic abuse charges and likewise his poor kind, the place he stays with out a objective or an help in his 19 league matches this season.
The winger has been a sporadic determine within the United staff as of late, with Alejandro Garnacho locking down the correct aspect as his personal.
Antony’s season to date will be crudely summed up as a mixture of inefficient wing play and numerous failed efforts at slicing in and ballooning the ball over the crossbar. If he’s tasked with taking part in right now, United followers might be hoping ultimately he can break his rancid streak within the Premier League, the place he has not scored since April 2023 towards Nottingham Forest.
Can United sustain their nice dwelling report versus Fulham?
The Pink Devils have definitely had the Cottagers’ variety of late, as they’ve dominated their opponents on the Theatre of Desires.
Based on The BBC, Fulham’s solitary victory of their previous 16 league visits to Outdated Trafford was by 3-1 in 2003.
As well as, Manchester United are unbeaten in 16 Premier League video games towards Fulham since a 3-0 away defeat in 2009.
Nonetheless, lots of these video games of late have been hard-fought victories, equivalent to the 2 late winners United wanted at Craven Cottage, first from Alejandro Garnacho in November 2022 and Bruno Fernandes earlier this season in the identical month.
