Key events
And in Everton’s spanking new stadium … a resounding home win! “Grealish,” says Tom Bassam, “was outstanding.”
Meanwhile, in South London … Palace and Forest have re-enacted their result from May. Scott Murray has the details.
Teams in full
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Castagne; Lukic, Berge; Sessegnon, King, Iwobi; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Cuenca, Robinson, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Jimenez.
Man United (3-4-3) Altay; Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu; Mbeumo, Cunha, Mount.
Subs: Onana, Fredericson, Maguire, Heaven, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Mount, Zirkzee, Sesko.
Teams in brief: three changes for Fulham
Marco Silva is more proactive, even though Fulham’s first result was a decent one (1-1 at Brighton). Rodrigo Muniz, who secured that point with a last-ditch equaliser after coming on as a sub, dislodges Raul Jimenez. Ryan Sessegnon replaces Harry Wilson on the right wing, and at the back Jorge Cuenca gives way to Timothy Castagne. The exciting Josh King, only 18, continues to edge out Emile Smith Rowe as the No 10.
Andreas Pereira is left out of the squad, as is Rasmus Højlund (again) for United, and possibly for the same reason – they seem to be on their way out.
Teams in brief: Amorim digs in his heels
Ruben Amorim makes only one change to United’s starting XI, replacing his right wing-back, Diogo Dalot, with the more attacking Amad. That means two surprises: Benjamin Sesko has to wait a bit longer for his first start, as Amorim persists with a false nine (probably Matheus Cunha); and Altay Bayindir is retained in goal after his expensive howler against Arsenal, even though André Onana has had another week to regain full fitness.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to a game that ought to be a mismatch. A club that has spent £200m this summer is paying a visit to a club that has spent £500,000. And yet, on paper, it’s too close to call.
Fulham have continuity on their side. Marco Silva, who took over as their manager in summer 2021, is now the third longest-serving manager in the Premier League. (Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta are the only PL bosses to survive from the BC era – before Covid.)
Manchester United are more about chaos. A swathe of redundancies, a number of players banned from squad training, a whole new forward line, a whole new team of chief this and chief that, and a manager who has yet to prove himself in English football. Still, Ruben Amorim has discovered the secret that has eluded everyone else: how to stay in a top job while losing left, right and centre.
“We are playing a great side,” Silva said on Friday. Is he sure about that? Amorim’s United, well though they played in losing to Arsenal last Sunday, have been comically bad at coping with mid-table teams. In 14 league games last season against clubs that finished between 7th and 17th, they won two, drew two and lost ten, making a grand total of eight points out of 42.
To be fair, one of the wins did come at Craven Cottage – a jammy 1-0 conjured up by the persistence of Lisandro Martinez and a friendly deflection. Fulham soon took their revenge by going to Old Trafford in the FA Cup and winning on penalties.
Opta’s prediction machine gives Fulham a 30pc chance of winning today, United 44. The prediction pundits see it as closer than that: Chris Sutton and Paul Merson have both gone for a 1-1 draw, while Harry Redknapp says 2-1 to United.
Kick-off is at 4.30pm (BST) and I’ll be back soon with the teams.
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