Manchester United vs Fulham: Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

To start the 2024–25 Premier League season, Manchester United will play Fulham. They will be aiming for a record-extending 21st title.

Man Utd vs Fulham Team News

During the current transfer window, Manchester United has begun to bolster its roster. Before fending off competition from Real Madrid to sign highly regarded 18-year-old center-back Leny Yoro from Lille, Bolgonga bolstered its offensive potency by signing striker Joshua Zirkzee, who had 11 goals and four assists in 34 Serie A outings for Bolgonga last season.

Injuries plagued Ten Hag's top players throughout the 2022–23 season, and he'll be looking to change that this time. The second year for Rasmus Højlund at Old Trafford is about to begin, and Ten Hag's young midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has emerged as an essential player.

Fulham could anticipate another hectic summer. Head coach Silva has suffered a significant loss with the departure of Tosin Adarabioyo, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and midfield enforcer João Palhinha, all of whom are free agents and have signed with Chelsea and Leicester City, respectively. After joining Bayern Munich, the Portuguese international set a Premier League record with 152 tackles, more than any other player that season. Among the top five leagues in Europe in 2022–23, he was the only player to record 100+ tackles and 250+ duels won.

However, left-back Ryan Sessegnon has returned to the Cottage to challenge Antonee Robinson. At the same time, midfielder Emile Smith Rowe, on loan from Arsenal, is on his way to being signed by Marco Silva to bolster his midfield.

Head-to-head and previous matches

When Manchester United shocked Manchester City in the FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag's job as head coach seemed to be in danger. This was a first for the Red Devils since 1989–90 (-1 in both instances), even though they ended the 2022–23 regular season with a 2-0 victory against Brighton. They also finished with a negative goal differential (57 scored, 58 surrendered). The record-setting 20-time English champions also had their worst Premier League result ever, coming in at number eight. Their lowest showing since 1990, when they finished thirteenth under Alex Ferguson, was this.

He is now focused on moving up the table and contending with last season's top contenders, Arsenal, and eventual winners, City, after extending his contract with Manchester United until June 2026 with the assistance of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. But it will be complicated since United isn't vital, to begin with. During the current summer transfer window, this may be resolved.

With 12 losses in a Premier League season being the previous high, Manchester United had an unpleasant record-setting campaign. They established a new low with 13 goals in their crushing May 6 loss to Crystal Palace, and with a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal, they now have 14 goals for the season.

Manchester United's home losing streak reached six games before their loss to Mikel Arteta's squad; their last loss was 2-1 against Fulham, with the goal scored by Alex Iwobi at 96:04. With this goal, the away side scored the second-latest Premier League winning goal against Manchester United and the latest goal scored at Old Trafford in the league since 2006-07.

This ended Fulham's 16-match losing streak on Manchester United's turf (two draws and fourteen losses) and gave them their first away victory in any tournament since October 2003. In addition, having played for both United and Fulham, former United midfielder Andreas Pereira generated more scoring opportunities for his team than any player since August 2006's Luís Boa Morte (also five).

Like Manchester United, Marco Silva's Fulham team looked questionable defensively throughout the Premier League season, allowing 61 goals. Despite this, they managed to secure 13th place with four more victories. Only in the 2013–14 season (85) and the 2018–19 season (81) did they allow more goals, and in both seasons, the Cottagers were sent down.

Our Predictions

Man Utd to win @1.50 on Sky247.ng

No team has won the Premier League opener more often than Manchester United (21 times). Aside from their win in February, Fulham's record at Old Trafford could be better, with 13 losses out of 17 visits to the red side of Manchester. Red Devils goalkeepers have allowed only one goal in their previous six home Premier League games.

Bruno Fernandes, the First Goalscorer 

The Portuguese master will be looking to carry his impressive form from last season into 2024–25 with Manchester United. He scored seven goals and added four assists in his last nine matches across all competitions.

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