Match Preview
Fulham vrs Manchester United
Premier League Match Day 18 2021 at Craven Cottage
Wednesday 20th January 2021 KO: 20:15
Referee:
Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire)
Live on BT Sports
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Manchester United can ensure that they will occupy top spot in the Premier League table at the halfway stage of their season when they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils have won their last four top-flight away games against Fulham by an aggregate score of 12-1 and are unbeaten in their last eight top-flight meetings with promoted sides, scoring 25 goals in that time.
The odds seem stacked against Fulham, then, and even more so given that they are currently on a seven-game winless run which stretches back to the end of November.
That only tells half of the story, though; in that time Fulham have taken points off Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, while their only defeats have been against Manchester City and Chelsea, the latter of which came on Saturday after they were forced to play the majority of that West London derby with 10 men.
Scott Parker may be justified in thinking that his side would have got something out of that game had they kept 11 men on the pitch, but discipline has been an issue this season, with Antonee Robinson's red card the third they have picked up in the league so far in 2020-21 - no team has had more.
Goalscoring is also a growing concern; while Fulham have tightened things up at the back significantly as the season has progressed, conceding just three times in their last four outings, they have also only scored three times in their last seven top-flight games.
Indeed, the Cottagers have now drawn blanks in each of their last three home league games since earning a draw against Liverpool and could go four top-flight home games without finding the back of the net for the first time since December 1961.
The improvement at the back means that Fulham have been able to pick up regular points despite that, though, and while weekend wins for both Brighton & Hove Albion and West Bromwich Albion dealt another blow to their survival hopes, the gap to safety is still an entirely-assailable four points.
The Red Devils drew 0-0 with champions Liverpool on Sunday night to keep hold of first place, and they face a Fulham side without a Premier League win to their name since November.
Not for the first time this season, a hugely-anticipated and heavily-billed big game failed to live up to the hype on Sunday as Liverpool and Manchester United played out a largely dull and uneventful goalless draw at Anfield.
While the result arguably benefitted Manchester City more than either of the teams involved, Man United would have undoubtedly been the happier of the two sides on Merseyside as they hung on to top spot in the Premier League table and came through what on paper is their biggest test of the season relatively unscathed.
It is a sign of their changing mindset and ambition that they came away from Anfield with a tinge of disappointment too; a point at the home of the champions would have been gleefully accepted by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had he been offered it before the match, but his side created the two biggest chances and, but for Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal, could have become the first visiting team to win a league game at Anfield since April 2017.
Even more importantly, it could have lifted them six points clear of the champions and maintained the four-point gap to Manchester City and Leicester City, but as it stands those two teams are now only two points adrift.
Indeed, with both of them in action before Man United in midweek it could be that Solskjaer's side arrive at Craven Cottage sitting third in the table, but the very fact that they are still in the mix - and could guarantee top spot after 19 games of their season with victory - must be taken as an unexpected positive for the 20-time champions.
Plenty of teams have led the way before falling away in what is developing into one of the most competitive Premier League seasons ever, and the challenge for Man United now is to stay on top.
Key to doing that will be to maintain their away form; the draw at Anfield means that Man United have now gone more than a year without losing a top-flight away game, and should they avoid defeat on Wednesday then they would equal their club-record of 17 consecutive Premier League games on the road without defeat.
This season alone Man United are the only team yet to lose on the road and have picked up the most points and scored the most goals on their travels, so they will make the trip to West London full of belief that they will extend what is now a 12-game unbeaten run in the league.
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Fulham have only taken two points from the past 11 league meetings, drawing twice and losing nine times.
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Manchester United have won four successive league games at Craven Cottage by an aggregate score of 12-1.
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Fulham's most recent victory over United was 3-0 at home in December 2009.
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Fulham are winless in seven league games, drawing five times and losing twice.
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The Cottagers have scored just three Premier League goals in their past 11 hours and two minutes of action.
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Scott Parker's side are in danger of failing to score in four successive home league games for the first time since August 1969.
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They have taken only six points from a possible 27 against the sides currently in the top 10.
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Fulham are winless in 32 Premier League fixtures against established top-six clubs, drawing three games and losing 29.
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Ademola Lookman has been directly involved in four of Fulham's past six league goals, scoring one and setting up three.
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Manchester United are unbeaten in 11 league matches since losing to Arsenal on 1 November.
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United boast the only unbeaten Premier League away record this term, winning seven games and drawing twice. They need one more away victory to equal their 2019-20 total of eight.
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They have gone an entire year since their last away league loss, 2-0 at Liverpool on 19 January 2020.
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The Red Devils are 12 points better off than at this stage of last season.
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Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer's men have kept just two league clean sheets on their travels in 2020-21.
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They have been in front at half-time in just four of their 18 league fixtures.
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United are unbeaten in their past eight league fixtures against promoted opposition, scoring 25 goals in the process.
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Solskjaer was unbeaten in all eight league games as a player versus Scott Parker, winning six and drawing two.