Fulham and Manchester United dey face each other for English Premier League match at Craven Cottage for London, United Kingdom. The game na Sunday, September 20, and kickoff na 4:30pm local time, 15:30 GMT. Al Jazeera Sport get all the build-up to live text commentary stream from 12:30 GMT.
One month into the new Premier League season, excuses about bedding-in processes and newly assembled squads needing time to gel don wear thin. For Manchester United, there is acute sense of urgency as the international break dey loom. United no be only big club wey dey struggle, but after plenty pre-season optimism, spotlight don fall well well on manager Michael Carrick ahead of Sunday trip to Fulham.
United don lose three of their six matches in all competitions and they suffer damaging League Cup exit on Wednesday, after dem surrender 2-0 lead to Brighton & Hove Albion. Their only win in four league games come at home to promoted Ipswich Town. United start better for the VAR-dominated Manchester derby last Sunday, but dem play second fiddle to away team after City reduce to ten men.
The London club don make slow start under new manager Alvaro Arbeloa and dem never win for league. A draw at Liverpool last week and a League Cup win at West Ham United in midweek offer small glimpses of better things to come.
Carrick accept responsibility for the team poor start but talk say focus must remain on finding solutions rather than assigning blame. He talk say, ‘It’s my responsibility and I’m fine with that. It’s not a blame game. Blame me, no problem, but it’s not about blaming people.’ He add say, ‘It’s about finding solutions. It’s a whole collective thing. It’s about what you focus on. I know where we want to get to and we want to get there fast.’
United win 3-2 in their last meeting which come for Premier League at Old Trafford on February 1. Casemiro and Matheus Cunha put United two up before chaotic finale wey see Raul Jiminez net 85th minute penalty for the Londoners before Benjamin Sesko and Kevin trade injury time strikes. The teams share 1-1 draw in Premier League match. Emile Smith Rowe 73rd minute goal level matter after Rodrigo Muniz put through him own net for 58th minute.
Fulham win 2-1 at Old Trafford in Premier League on February 24, 2024. Harry Maguire appear to have sealed point for United for 90th minute when he cancel out Calvin Bassey 65th minute goal, but Alex Iwobi get Fulham winner in injury time. United don win three of the five meetings since then. Fulham never record home win against United since December 2009. Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff seal 3-0 home win. Of the 10 matches since then, United don win nine, score 21 and concede six.
Opta supercomputer give Manchester United 47.4 percent chance of winning, while e give Fulham only 28.3 percent chance of victory. This go be their 94th meeting, with Manchester United winning 59 of the encounters and Fulham 14. Kenny Tete miss out due to concussion at Anfield last week. Tom Cairney also absent with knee injury, but Ryan Sessegnon go get late fitness test as he returns from groin problem. Fulham lineup na Leno; Castagne, Affengruber, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Charles; Bobb, King, Iwobi; Garcia.
United go make late decision on whether to include Luke Shaw and Carlos Baleba in squad. Both don get ankle problems, but dem fit feature. Manuel Ugarte, Tom Heaton, Matthijs de Ligt and Amad Diallo all remain sidelined with injuries. Managers na Álvaro Arbeloa and Michael Carrick, and both set up for 4-2-3-1 formation.
For the match itself, first half end goalless but e no lack action. Harry Maguire get sore one when he tussle with Josh King close to touchline and end up falling into water carriers. Antonee Robinson cross into area but Oscar Bobb touch poor. Manchester United try to get on break and Timothy Castagne stick out arm to block Marcus Rashford and he go into book for am. Marcus Rashford ping ball into middle of penalty box but Matheus Cunha no fit control am.
Fun fact: first half see both sides combine for 26 shots in total, the most in first half of Premier League game which remain goalless on Opta record since 2003-04. Clinton Morrison, former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Craven Cottage, talk say Carrick need to get result because if he no do, people go keep talking and that na wetin happen when you be big club and you no fit get results. He talk say dem no fit go into international break losing three in-a-row so dem need improvement in second half after some spells in first.
Gary Neville, former England defender on Sky Sports, talk say e think both managers go don ask for more urgency in second half. Clinton Morrison add say he enjoy the game, even though he no usually enjoy 0-0. He talk say e been very entertaining 0-0, end-to-end. United create chances, Fulham create the most chances and if you look at league table after seeing them today, you go think say dem dey false position because dem been outstanding in first half.
Hard to tell which of these teams dey play Champions League this season. Man United never set the world alight this season. Fulham dey look the better team. Some fans no happy: Brenda from Birmingham talk say if this continue in second half Fulham go win; United been so pedestrian e unbearable to watch as fan. She talk say zero heart, zero desire and certainly zero effort. Ricky from Plymouth talk say dem make more pass backs to Leno than Fulham. The match last update na 20th September 2026 at 17:35.
