Last year, Fulham vs Manchester United was the final Premier League match before the season was halted for the World Cup in Qatar.
Fulham dominated much of the game at Craven Cottage last November but lost 2-1 after a 93rd-minute winner from Alejandro Garnacho.
A lot has changed since, with Manchester United now in much worse shape than they were a year ago. Here is how Fulham can twist the knife to compound the misery for Erik ten Hag.
United’s porous midfield
Despite bringing in two new faces in the summer, United’s engine room is somehow worse. While Casemiro’s form has decayed, he remains United’s best midfielder yet will miss Saturday through injury.
Sofyan Amrabat is yet to appreciate the importance of positional discipline in English football, while Mason Mount lacks minutes.
Fulham fans will trust Joao Palhinha and whichever of Harrison Reed or Sasa Lukic starts alongside him to show United what an effective midfield looks like.
Unbalanced at right-back
Few would argue that Diogo Dalot is anything other than a very mobile attacking full-back, but defensively he is more suspect.
Plenty could see the move coming for Newcastle’s first goal in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash at Old Trafford before it unravelled.
United’s issue was that he was not one of them. It was not the first time the Portugal international had let his man go free, and Marco Silva will hope it is not the last. Willian will be licking his lips.
Defensive errors
Passing around the back is a staple of the modern game. Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Andre Onana are all very capable at distribution, yet all three have made significant errors in that department this season.
And Maguire and Lindelof in particular have been known to lunge forward to try to win the ball, only for opponents to skip past them and eat up the space they’ve just vacated. Fulham can capitalise.
Aerial weakness up front
Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund have shown glimpses of stardom this season, and Fulham are the sort of attack-minded team who will leave pockets for the Englishman and Dane to exploit.
Yet while Hojlund and, especially, Rashford both possess strong heading ability in an attacking sense, they are less adept at flick-ons and winning aerial duels. Tim Ream and Calvin Bassey will likely dominate in the air.
