Before The Whistle: Fulham v Manchester United
Written by Drew Heatley on 3rd November 2023
The lunchtime kick-off is always ripe for a surprise.
We face Manchester United at the Cottage tomorrow, looking for our first win against the Red Devils since May 2009. There was a glorious period that year when we scored five goals in two games without reply at home to United, but since then the pickings have been rather slimmer.
We’ve had a good week. The hard-fought 1-1 draw at the AmEx was followed up by impressively dispatching high-flying Ipswich at Portman Road.
Two performances in particular stood out on Wednesday. Youngster Luc de Fougerolles slotted in at CB and showed what the next decade could look like for the Whites, alongside a reinvigorated Calvin Bassey. Then there was Rodrigo Muniz. The young Brazilian got the nod from the start in the cup, and repaid Marco by bagging our second.
While no one expects de Fougerolles to relieve Tim Ream of his duties on Saturday, but there’s a real possibility Rodrigo could come in up top, with both Jimenez and Vinicius failing to impress after 10 games.
It’d be remiss of me not to mention Harry Wilson, who also had a good game in the cup, and who has more than a fair shout at coming in against United. Elsewhere, expect Iwobi to come back in for Pereira.
United are, of course, not the behemoth many of us remember. And their house is certainly not in order (metaphorically and literally – looking at you here, Old Trafford). This represents an opportunity. Let’s take it. You Whites.
ℹ️ MATCH DETAILS
Kick-Off: Saturday, 12.30PM
Stadium: Craven Cottage
Competition: Premier League
TV Channel (UK): TNT
🚦 LEAGUE FORM
Fulham: ✅ ⬜ ❌ ✅ ❌ ⬜
Man Utd: ❌ ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌
⚖️ MATCH PROBABILITY
Fulham: 29.4%
Draw: 29.1%
Man Utd: 41.5%
🥊 MOST RECENT MATCHES
Feb 23: Man Utd 2-1 Fulham
Mar 23: Man Utd 3-1 Fulham
Nov 22: Fulham 1-2 Man Utd
May 21: Man Utd 1-1 Fulham
🎙 NEW PODCAST: On Tractor Wembley
Reaction to the Ipswich win, the ticket price protest and a Manchester United preview.
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