Fulham has always been a tough place to go to even when we were the best team in the world.
So if we struggled then, what chances do we have as the worst team in the club's history?
The positive for United is that it's away from home which is the only respite I can give for this game as we have really lost our way at Old Trafford. The last away match in the PL produced our best performance of the season at Liverpool so let's hope for something similar this time as well.
Predicted Lineup
I can see a return for Onana although should he? Like, ever?
The back three will consist of what is perhaps our strongest with Martinez, Maguire and De Ligt although the Dutchman does have a bit of injury after Thursday's win however, I do believe he will be good for Fulham.
Mainoo and Ugarte to return in midfield but after a good performance against Rangers, maybe there is a chance that Collyer could play? He also came off with half an hour to go which gave him some rest. Nonetheless, I believe Amorim will go with what he feels is his strongest midfield pairing.
Mazraoui should return too after a night off which was the first game he's missed this season. An incredible feat.
I would like him to replace Dalot on the left with Amad staying on the right and Garnacho being one of the number 10s again alongside Bruno, that's if Garnacho is still a United player by this game 👀.
However, Amorim will most likely go with Dalot as LWB with Mazraoui as RWB as his fellow Portuguese always starts whenever available.
This will see Amad and Bruno plays as the CAMs and I have a feeling that Hojlund will come in for Zirkzee.
Approach
United need to start games off better. Whatever the tactics are, if we keep going behind early in matches it makes things really hard just as the manager said.
The team are then on the back foot straight away and having to come from behind against a good side on the road is never an easy thing to do.
We've conceded the first goal in five of the last seven league games showing that lack of concentration from the start. I believe a lot of this also has to do with the slow tempo from United as we never seem to be out of the blocks firing on all fronts.
The players look like they're still in the dressing room as the energy is non-existent. This has seen so many teams take advantage of us by scoring that first goal and going on to control the game.
Something that Maguire mentioned in the pre-match presser to Thursday's Europa League game was that the goals United are conceding are caused more by us not focusing rather than opposition's carving us open.
He's right as when you look at those goals, a lot of them are from corners or free-kickis rather than great passages of play. In six of the last seven league matches, United have conceded the first goal through a corner, free-kick or standard cross displaying a clear weakness whenever balls are delivered into our penalty area.
We also play with five defenders yet look very shaky at the back.
The first goal is always important in any game but especially for us as it can calm down the nerves.
If we manage to score first, I believe there's a decent chance that we could get a positive result as we do have quality in our side. We don't want to be relying on that quality to keep bailing us out though.
Form
There is no form. I don't think we've had any form at all this season.
The defeat to Brighton was our 10th loss! in the league and also put us back into 13th position, a place we seem to be stuck at.
In Ruben Amorim's 11 league games in charge, his side have lost on six occasions conceding 15 whilst scoring just 3 😳.
He's also only had the one clean sheet in the Premier League so far which came in his second game, a 4-0 win over Everton at the start of December, nine matches ago.
As we know, the main problem is that his team concedes the first goal most of the time but have managed to win just two of those eight when they've gone behind.
Not a great record.
What's worse though, is that while we are horrendous at home, away from it, we are somehow even more terrible.
We are 11th in the home table but 14th in the away table! The record of just two wins on the road is the same as Ipswich and Wolves with only Everton, Brentford, Leicester and Southampton having won fewer on their travels.
How embarrassing 😩.
We've drawn four (the last of which was that 2-2 at Anfield) but also lost four. We don't score many (10) but encouragingly, we don't concede too many either (12). Those 12 let in are the same as Liverpool and Arsenal with only Crystal Palace on 11 having conceded the fewest in the league.
What Amorim does have on his side is the form of both Bruno and Amad. The pair have scored in all of the last five in all competitions. Out of the 9 goals scored in this time, Bruno and Amad have scored 7 of them including that hat-trick by the Ivorian Messi against Southampton.
So at least that's something.
Fulham
The Cottagers are always one of those difficult mid-table teams to face and I expect no less this time round as well. In fact, you'd probably put them as favorites.
They've also had a week off whereas we played on Thursday so that could give them a bit of an advantage as well.
Fulham are slap bang in the middle of the table as they are 10th after 22 games. They've won eight, drawn nine (the second-most) but lost just five which is one of the fewest in the league. Fulham's 34 scored is 7 more than United with all of this giving them 33 points, also 7 more than us.
Their recent form hasn't been amazing however, they did only lose one of their last five which was a narrow 3-2 defeat to West Ham a couple of games ago.
Marco Silva's side are one spot and 1 point above United in the home table as they sit 10th with 17 points after 11 matches.
They possess quite a few good players not least of which former Red Andreas Pereira along with Raul Jiminez, Adama Traore, Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson, all of whom are more than capable of causing us problems.
Recent Meetings
Another positive for Amorim is that United have dominated nigh on all of the recent meetings. In the last 18 league encounters, Fulham have won just one with their being three draws and 14 MUFC victories!
However, that one Fulham win was at Old Trafford last season so it is pretty recent.
While the record is heavily in United's favor, it's not as though we completely destroy them as a lot of the games are very close with the odd goal deciding it. The last six games that have seen a side come out on top have been decided by just 1 goal.
The reverse fixture was also tight as Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to give Erik ten Hag's Man Utd a 1-0 win over the Cottagers on opening night of the league.
Prediction
I can see Fulham winning this. I know the recent record is great but currently, they should be beating us comfortably.
I'm going for a 2-0 win to Silva's side as I cannot see United causing them any trouble.
What are your predictions for match 23?
Background player image: Rasmus Hojlund | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)