Man United and Fulham have played each other in all competitions 69 times, there have been 41 United wins, 13 Fulham wins and 15 draws. On paper, that may sound like it should be an easy win for United tomorrow but that isn’t the case.
On the 19th December last year United travelled down to London to play Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Premier League, the Londoners beat United 3-0. Looking at the team (especially the defence) you can see that it wasn’t the strongest, that was due to injuries- Tomasz Kuszczak, Patrice Evra, Ritchie de Laet, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Anderson, Darron Gibson, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.
After a fantastic 4-0 win over AC Milan midweek, United should be full of confidence. With both Chelsea and Arsenal winning today then nothing but a win tomorrow will be good enough. A win will take us back to the top of the table.
Carrick has returned to the United squad after not being able to play during the week due to a red card he received in the first leg against AC Milan. United still have Anderson, Ryan Giggs, John O’Shea, Michael Owen, Ritchie de Laet, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown all out injured.
Clint Dempsey could return for Fulham for the first time in two months, he has been out with a knee injury. Stefano Okaka and Nicky Shorey are included in the squad after being cup-tied for the game against Juventus.
Kagisho Dikacoi is a doubt for the game; both Andrew Johnson and John Pantsil are out injured with knee injuries.
The referee will be Mike Jones. He has refereed 25 matches this season, showing 86 yellow cards and four red cards. He hasn’t refereed a Man United match this season but he did referee Fulham’s 1-1 away to Burnley.
You may recognise the name Mike Jones- he was the referee allowed Sunderland to score (and in the end win) against Liverpool at the Stadium Of Light, with the aid of a beachball.
Predicted Man United starting XI- Edwin Van Der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Darron Gibson, Darren Fletcher, Luis Nani and Wayne Rooney.
Predicted fulltime result- Man United 3-1 Fulham
