Premier League: Craven Cottage to Host Premier League Sign-Off

Fulham vs Manchester United

They came within a few seconds of securing one of the Premier League results of the season last weekend.

Whether Fulham would have been able to run champions Manchester City so close had they not faced them with a man’s advantage for almost an hour is unknown.

But it was hard not to admire the way they kept City at bay for so long with a disciplined and structured display until, even with 10 men, that extra class came through.

Now it’s time for Marco Silva and his charges to take on the red half of Manchester.

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Talking Points

Since going down to that last-gasp penalty defeat, Fulham have had a week on the training ground while Manchester United have been in action twice against Aston Villa.

So the freshness will certainly be with the hosts in what is the final Premier League game of the weekend and before the World Cup pauses top-flight club football until Christmas.

Silva will be hoping to have a full-strength squad at his disposal and that would mean welcoming back Aleksandar Mitrovic who has spearheaded their attack so well this term.

He was missed against City and anyone who doubted his ability to score regularly in the top-flight, just as he managed in last year’s record-breaking Championship campaign, having been silenced ever since his opening weekend double shocked last season’s runners-up.

Fulham are keen to pick up a positive result in front of their home supporters as they face Man United in Premier League — Fulham’s Andreas Pereira in action with Manchester City’s Rodri during their Premier League match

Another one of the star men for the Cottagers this term is the man who got their goal last weekend and Andreas Pereira may well be wanting to prove a point this Sunday as he faces his old club following a stint at Old Trafford which yielded more than seven years – including a wonder strike against Southampton in March 2019 – and four loan spells but never a continued run in the first team.

Perhaps he was not good enough to quite warrant that, but he certainly seems to be benefiting from the consistency of a regular place in the starting lineup this term.

Premier League 2022 highlights have started to come United’s way more in recent weeks and they remain the only side to have defeated leaders Arsenal so far this term.

However, they can ill afford a repeat of the showing they gave at Aston Villa last Sunday where they found themselves 2-0 down inside 10 minutes en route to a 3-1 defeat.

A meeting of two teams who like to attack, this really should be an entertaining contest and a great way to round off the Premier League until Christmas.

History

United have won 52 of their meetings in history, compared to just 14 Fulham successes. There have also been a further 20 draws.

The very first meeting took place in what was known as the intermediate round of the FA Cup in 1905.

In what sounded like quite a cup tie played at Bank Street, Clayton in Manchester, and the sides drew 2-2 with Charles Mackie and Thomas Arkesden the home scorers.

The replay at Craven Cottage four days later ended goalless before Fulham finally prevailed by a solitary goal in a second replay played at Villa Park.

The very first league meeting came in the former Division Two in 1922 and also ended all square as the sides drew 1-1 at Old Trafford.

When the sides met at Craven Cottage two seasons ago, it took a wonder goal from Paul Pogba to separate the sides after Ademola Lookman and Edinson Cavani had traded first half goals – a result which briefly took United to the summit.

The return fixture finished 1-1 and included another world class strike – Cavani netting before Joe Bryan levelled for Fulham – by which time the West Londoners had been relegated.

It was actually the first fixture in more than a year in which spectators were allowed inside Old Trafford – around 10,000 of them – following COVID-19 restrictions.

The last time Fulham beat United was a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the injury-hit Red Devils in 2009. On that occasion, the scorers were Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora, and Damien Duff.