After watching his Manchester United side fail to capitalise on an encouraging performance against Arsenal on the Premier League’s opening weekend, Ruben Amorim faces two major decisions before the trip to Fulham.
The most intriguing of those is whether to keep faith with goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, whose failure to deal adequately with an early corner allowed Riccardo Calafiori to steal in for the early goal that sealed a 1-0 victory for Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Bayindir’s contribution came under intense scrutiny in the aftermath of the game and, assuming speculation about André Onana’s Manchester United future is just that, it will be intriguing to see whether Amorim opts to restore the Cameroon international to the starting lineup following a recent hamstring injury.
The second big call for Amorim concerns whether to start Benjamin Sesko, the Slovenia striker acquired from RB Leipzig earlier this month in a deal worth up to £74m. Sesko’s sharp movement and physicality during a 25-minute cameo against Arsenal offered promising signs for his partnership with fellow new recruits Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, and it is tempting to wonder whether his presence would have helped United convert one of their 22 shots.
Unlike United, Fulham are already up and running in the league following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brighton. Not for the first time, however, they were reliant on a late intervention from Rodrigo Muniz, who burnished his super-sub reputation with a typically clinical close-range strike.
That the Brazilian’s late heroics were required perhaps points to a wider challenge for Fulham, who scored as many goals as they shipped in finishing 11th last season. Couple that lack of cutting edge with the fact that United have won each of their past eight league visits to Craven Cottage, and this could be the perfect opportunity for Amorim’s revamped front line to lay down a marker for the season ahead.
Bookmakers have United down as prohibitive favourites for the win; it is hard to disagree.
Fulham vs Manchester United team news
Left-back Antonee Robinson remains unavailable for Fulham after undergoing knee surgery three months ago, while Ryan Sessegnon is an injury doubt after missing the Brighton game.
Andre Onana could return for United. The Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui, who missed the Arsenal game, is doubtful, while Lisandro Martinez is still recovering from a long-term knee injury.
Fulham vs Manchester United predicted line-ups
Manchester United: Altay Bayindir; Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Luke Shaw; Diogo Dalot, Carlos Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Patrick Dorgu; Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha.
Fulham: Bernd Leno; Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Jorge Cuenca, Calvin Bassey; Sasa Lukic, Sander Berge; Harry Wilson, Joshua King, Alex Iwobi; Raul Jimenez.
