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Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham There are ten minutes plus added time to play at Villa Park, where Emerson Palmieri has equalised for West Ham.
Jamie Jackson on Man Utd’s woes
When seriously struggling, you do not need to send your best forward into exile, as Marcus Rashford has been for the past six weeks. This problem seems self-inflicted by Ruben Amorim. Because unless a Ratcliffe tap on the shoulder informed of the need to offload the forward’s £365k-a-week salary, how bad do the “training reasons” have to be (Amorim’s stated reason) to exclude the 27-year-old from United’s past 10 outings?
Team news
Marco Silva sticks with the Fulham XI that beat Leicester last weekend.. Man Utd make three changes from their last Premier League game, the defeat at home to Brighton. Lisandro Martinez, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund come in for Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Anderson, Bassey, Robinson; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez.
Substitutes: Benda, Diop, Cuenca, Cairney, Andreas, Reed, Traore, Muniz.
Manchester United (3-4-2-1) Onana; De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot; Amad, Garnacho; Hojlund.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Lindelof, Malacia, Yoro, Collyer, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mainoo, ZIrkzee.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Rob Draper on Ruben Amorim’s first coaching crisis
“He is a magician,” says Carlos Pires, the sporting director at Casa Pia who, at some risk to himself, appointed a man with no coaching experience to his first job in 2018. “Everything he touches turns to gold. I told him: ‘In 10 years’ time, whether you are at Manchester United or coaching in the Lisbon leagues, you can tell people I’m the crazy guy who gave you the opportunity.’ And yes, I did use Manchester United as the example, even back then.”
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Fulham v Manchester United at Craven Cottage. Ruben Amorim’s suggestion that his team is the worst in Manchester United’s history has caused quite a stir. And while his comments showed a distressing ignorance of the class of 1989-90, you can understand why he felt it necessary to take the nuclear option. It’s almost 12 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and United are further away from success than ever.
Fulham are the antithesis of United – stable, understated, easy on the eye and with a rhythm that comes from working with the same coach for three and a half years.
This United team, a bit like the 1989-90 side, look happier away from home. United have an outstanding recent record at Craven Cottage, where they have won their last seven games. On current form, it’ll be a surprise if that continues.
Kick off 7pm.
