Mar 26
United Aim to Reclaim Top Spot against Cottagers
There’s nothing wrong with saying that it’d have been nice for Chelsea and Stoke City to hold a couple of important leads over the last several days, because the opportunity to take a seven-point lead with eight matches left would have been a fantastic one that would leave my soccer picks looking very healthy indeed.
But heading into the home stretch of a tight title race, any advantage is a helpful one, and with a win tonight over Fulham, Manchester United will be three points clear of City, who moved back to top spot with Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Stoke. And along with an advantage in points, United could also take an advantage in goal difference if they can crush the visiting Cottagers, who went down 5-0 to United at Craven Cottage in December.
Fulham have been one of the Premier League’s better home sides over the last few seasons, and after winning only one of their first six home games this season, they’re headed towards another solid home mark. But the same can’t be said for their away form, which is an issue yet again this season, as they’re only 2-5-7 away from home thus far. As it stands, they enter tonight 13th in the Premier League table, but they’re closer to seventh (Liverpool on 42) than the bottom three (QPR on 25).
The expectation is that tonight will go only one way, and that’s the expectation for good reason. Historically, United have thoroughly dominated Fulham, especially at Old Trafford. United have won seven in a row at home against Fulham since a 3-1 defeat in October 2003, and in those seven wins, United have outscored the Cottagers 20-3. Given that Fulham haven’t scored in their last four visits to Old Trafford and that they have scored only eight goals in 14 away matches this season, I imagine there are quite a few gambling folk out there who’ve confidently put down on a win to nil for United.
An in-form Clint Dempsey, who has 12 Premier League goals and 18 in all competitions this season, is sure to be a threat tonight, and so will January signee Pavel Pogrebnyak, who has five goals in five games since joining from VfB Stuttgart.
But United come in with 25 goals in their last nine league games, so there’s that. On to the lineups now, shall we?
Manchester United: De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Young; Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Jones, Berbatov, Smalling, Hernandez, Scholes, Cleverley.
Fulham: Schwarzer; Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise; Frei, Diarra, Dempsey, Dembele, Duff; Pogrebnyak.
Subs: Stockdale, Ruiz, Murphy, Senderos, Etuhu, Briggs, Trotta.
Related Posts
Related items from Red Rants:
The_Philosopher (486)
Redrich (253)
Opti (215)
Stephen (187)
Moscow (150)
3-0 United.
Giggs, Rooney, Chicharito!!!!
Like?
0 
0
I am nervous about this game. Pogrenyak scored twice against United in the european CL winners vs 2nd european string cup. He knows how to score against Rio and Vida – so who knows with Johnny Ev whether we can handle him and Dempsey. We are not good on set pieces – or high balls into the box and we have Evra
. Like I say NERVOUS. Come on United. Giggs in MF with Carrick – our MF will be over run m’thinks. Again come on United.
Like?
0 
0
cmon welly we need better from you
Like?
0 
0
Carrick & Giggs and you know thé mid id gonna be anonymous alright.
Like?
0 
0
Yep, I can totally see Welbeck becoming world class in 1-2 seasons max
Evans has contributed better offensively.
Our passing has been pretty poor, Fulham overran us in midfield way too often, Rooney is dropping too deep and yes I know he scored but he needs to get in the box because Welbeck is non-existent.
Like?
0 
0
Basically, our midfield and strikers are not good enough. Major investment needed in the summer. Never seen a worse United team in the Premier League era.
Like?
2 
0
@Moscow is my heaven: Can’t really say Rooney isn’t a good striker mate – when he is on form he is good at his job of striking. I don’t understand how Welbeck with no technical ability gets on the field before Berbatov.
Like?
1 
0
This United team tonight is poor beyond belief. Our MF is one player Carrick, because Giggsy cannot pass and find a red shirt and he does it in every game – concedes possession with utter carelessness. Young is always standing with Welbeck in the very same spot in the box – hasn’t either of them got a brain to find their own spot. Fergie disrespecting teams again with 2 players in our MF – and one is not and never will be a MF. Fergie said in the papers this week he has learn’t his lesson with the teams he has put out this season, but NO Fergie you haven’t. Our wide players are not playing well either, not creating much – Valencia has had a few good moments but few and far between. Fulham are being allowed to break forward in numbers, and United are not going to be continuing this if they don’t want Fulham goals, because they are conceding too much space and we will be caught unless Fergie does something about strengthening our MF. Forwards apart from Rooney are NO SHOW – bloody pathetic.
Like?
1 
0
Giggs thé King of wasteful passes!
Like?
2 
0
For every one good piss Giggs makes 3 bad passes!
Like?
4 
0
@AndyCR7: pass*
Like?
0 
0
How the fuck are we top of the league?
Like?
3 
0
Thé press placés to much value on United’s expérience to win titles.most of thèse guys play shite.Almost cried trying to come to trend with thé fact that Van Persie & chicha + welbzck play in thé same league.ridiculous.Would be seriously bewildered if Giggs fers another season thé man is spent and an abqolute liability in mf.Our chances of viking g back in Europe are next to zéro with this squad tbh.
Like?
2 
1
What a total cock up. How the hell we do this game after game after game – conceding possession like fookin amateurs. Giggs is a liability every time he plays in MF, because he concedes possession continually. So many of our players driving forward into excellent positions and then had no composure with final pass or shot and made a balls of it giving it away to opposition time after time after time. Young is always falling over his own feet, and so is Welbeck, as is Hernandez these days. I do not enjoy watching this team at all, there is no excuse for these all season type of performances. How Fulham were not awarded a penalty beats me – it was a pen. We always do this and to be honest it is getting fookin wearying – totally tiresome. If we could buy some composure, some players who ARE FOOTBALLERS, comfortable on the ball, and know how to control a game, we would do okay, but not with most of this lot. If Rio is out injured, and Evra doing his rampaging forward crazy horse act – and then unable to defend because he is too fookin tired – then we will have people continue to wonder how the hell we are top of the league.
Like?
0 
1
@Craig Mc: Craig mi man, if I had a dollar for every time we gave the ball away… goodness me.
If a team simply came to Old Trafford and doubled up on our wingers, did what Citeh did and let our central midfield have the ball, we would be absolutely fooking clueless. Only thing missing from this horror show was Anderson combining with Giggs to provide a masterclass of anti-possession.
Like?
5 
0
@Moscow is my heaven: @Craig Mc: Not that i would particularly want him as our new manager, but could you imagine if guardiola took over from fergie and was trying to bring his barca brand football to united? Christ, he’d be pulling out what little of his hair remains, trying to teach us to keep the ball for more than 5 seconds the way we play.
Giggs literally must have successfully complete 1 of his passes all night, the lob for valencia, cos most of what i saw of him, he was basically fulhams 12th man in the way he kept gifting them possession time and time again. And he still completes yet another full 90 minutes.
Everyone knows fergie is loyal to his favourites, but in evra and giggs, its really becoming a bit of a joke, the favouritism they are shown, as their form for the majority of the season, has just been totally unacceptable.
Like?
2 
0
@Moscow is my heaven: If you had a dollar for every time we gave the ball away, you’d be a millionaire
Like?
0 
0
This is one salford red who is so pissed off, and I haven’t even had one pint
. Sorry for the moan lads – but come on be honest, aren’t you just a little pissed with a lot of United’s performances this season?
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: If we don’t win the league mate, I am gonna drown this site with negativity
I called this in the summer when we signed no midfielders.
Like?
2 
0
@Moscow is my heaven: your already drowning the site with negativity.
Like?
3 
6
@johnsom33: We won! Yay!
Like?
3 
0
@Moscow is my heaven:
Like?
0 
0
@Moscow is my heaven:
Like?
0 
0
Yet another “we played like shite, but got the win and thats what matters really” game again tonight. Only about the 20th of the season so far eh. So long as we win the league though, it doesnt matter how many sub par, slightly concering games we see, because we get a nice shiny new trophy to add to the cabinet so its all grand i suppose.
Honestly, we really need to reassess what our standards are these days, because games like tonights far from making me angry, just make me sigh, as i am just so used to them these days its untrue.
Very little passion, no excitement, no imagination, just not a lot of anything really.
We’ll still win the league, of that im rather positive, but at united nowadays it seems weve become just like everyone else. Results and nowt else, is what counts these days, not being entertaining, stylish, playing the united way or whatever else.
Long as a nice trophy goes in the cabinet each year, and the money keeps coming in, manchester united are fine and dandy, and nothing changes.
Like?
2 
0
@tonymontanna4united: Exactly Tony mi man, and it costs the fans and arm and a leg to watch that shite you talk about. Full house again and trying to make themselves heard – but the fans had little to cheer about tonight. Man United fans though – still the best and always will be. What other supporters would turn up to watch the kind of below par performances United fans have had to endure this season.
Like?
2 
0
I am not pissed just not satisfied with this low-quality sloppy football. Valencia, Carrick, De Gea, and Evans aside, this was a sloppy affair from United. PLay out wide, cross/pass, repeat. Same stuff over and over and over… and same sloppy passing over and over and over. Rooney, Giggs, Evra, Welbeck^2, Chicharito could not place a single proper pass in the final 1/3rd.
United used to satisfy my weekly “footy fix”, but this season, I have had too few footy highs… today left me hoping that next week we could play better because my footy fix needs to be met and ONLY United can do… I am a one-drug footy Junkie!!!
COME ON YOU REDS!!! GIVE ME SOME FOOTY!!!
Like?
2 
0
” Welbeck is going to be world class in 1 or 2 seasons max! ”
Yeah right Johnsom, he was not even Premiership class last night, oh Evans was man of the match wasn’t he?
Like?
3 
0
@Stephen: Vally?
Like?
0 
0
@Opti: Superb and unplayable as I said earlier, I am his biggest fan!!!
Like?
0 
0
@Opti: Also Sky gave MOM to Evans and who I am I to agrue with them?!
Like?
2 
0