After comfortably overcoming a Wolves reserve side Manchester United must travel to Craven Cottage to face an in-form Fulham team fresh from Europa League duty. Expect a tight match as Fulham are unbeaten in their last six games, in all competitions. United on the other hand are hindered by the same plethora of injuries that have become commonplace over recent weeks.
For United, Tomasz Kuszczak will start in goal, as Edwin van der Sar has not recovered from a knee injury in time to face his former club. Ben Foster will remain benched.
The biggest job for Sir Alex Ferguson will be reshuffling the defensive pack, as Nemanja Vidic picked up a calf strain in the game on Tuesday. Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Gary Neville are all still out. Rafael, it seems has recovered from an ankle problem and could be in contention for the right-back slot, along with Ritchie de Laet. Despite his injury, Vidic should be partnered by Michael Carrick at the back, with Patrice Evra on the left-hand side.
Owen Hargreaves is all still out, while Ryan Giggs and Nani are doubtful, with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively. Darren Fletcher will more then likely be partnered by Paul Scholes in the centre, with an ever improving Valencia on the right, and depending if Giggs has recovered from injury or not, look for Obertan or Park on the left.
Up-front, Wayne Rooney will lead the line as always, joined by Dimitar Berbatov. Michael Owen will again have to settle for a place on the bench.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson will be without Diomansy Kamara and Simon Davies who are sidelined with knee and ankle injuries respectively, while Andy Johnson is unlikely to be in the squad as he is hampered by a groin injury. Good news for the Cottagers though, Danny Murphy made his comeback midweek and is expected to keep his place.
Striker Bobby Zamora looks to be back to his best after scoring four goals in his last three games, including a brace in Switzerland against Basle in midweek. Jonathan Greening is expected to make his 300th career league start on Saturday, will be facing his former club.
Last season, Fulham beat Manchester United at Craven Cottage for the first time in 45 years, a 2-0 victory. This season they have made their best start to a league campaign since 2003.
It will no doubt be a tough match, and one that we could struggle to win, especially with our defensive issues, though, one ray of light is the fact Fulham have failed to win in six of their seven league matches immediately following a Europa League outing. That provides some comfort at least.
Rooney has also scored seven goals in the last seven Premier League away matches, while Scholes is one goal away from 100 in the Premier League.
Prediction: 1-1 Draw
Probable Line Up: Kuszczak, De Laet, Carrick, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney.
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