Fulham home league match talk/coverage

[E.S.]

[21] Fulham official site takes a look at the next opponents ... MUFC

FREE BETFAIR BET


Get a FREE BET with Betfair









Have a Free £25 bet on totesport








Our run-in to the season’s end presents a number of trips to the North West, the first of which takes us to Old Trafford, the Premier League’s largest venue.

Last term the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ was something of a fortress for the current league leaders, with West Bromwich Albion the only side not to leave pointless as United’s imperious home form helped propel them to a record 19th top-flight title.

This season it has not been quite as formidable a venue with Manchester City and Blackburn gaining maximum points and Newcastle also claiming a share of the spoils. Indeed, neighbours City claimed a remarkable 6-1 triumph in October, ending in some style an unbeaten home sequence of 25 Premier League home games since Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford in April 2010.

Be that as it may, United have spent almost all of the season in the top two, finally edging ahead of their city rivals with a recent 2-0 home win over West Brom whilst City succumbed to defeat at Swansea.

Things haven’t gone quite so well in Europe however, where the Red Devils surprisingly failed to progress past the Group Stages of the UEFA Champions League, and last week suffered elimination at the Round of 16 stage at the hands of Athletic Bilbao.

Meanwhile, their domestic cup hopes were ended by Crystal Palace (Carling Cup) and Liverpool (FA Cup), meaning that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are in the rare situation of being able to focus all of their attentions on the League as the campaign reaches its climax.

Although United have generally come out on top against Fulham at Old Trafford in recent years, there have been some memorable Whites performances in the last decade or so, including a never-to-be-forgotten 3-1 win in October 2003; Lee Clark, Steed Malbranque and Junichi Inamoto the heroes that afternoon.

Two seasons earlier our first ever Premier League game took place there, and Jean Tigana’s side led twice, thanks to goals from Louis Saha, before United fought back to win 3-2. Additionally, back in 1999 as a then third tier club, we reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup and held the treble-bound United to a single goal, and may well have forced a replay but for a late John Salako miss

[Red News]

Fulham squad for Monday

Schwarzer, Stockdale, Kelly, Riise, Hangeland, Senderos, Hughes, Baird, Murphy, Etuhu, Diarra, Gecov, Kasami, Frei, Dempsey, Ruiz, Davies, Duff, Dembele, Johnson, Pogrebnyak.

[E.S.]

[1] Welbeck on countering the counter attack

"We have been in the situation a few times this season where teams just want to sit back at Old Trafford and try and get us on the counter-attack"

"I think you have to keep playing your normal game, be patient and probe the openings by knocking the ball around.

"You can’t get too impatient, that is what they want. You can’t let them get into your head"

[E.S.]

[16] Chris Smalling on the Fulham team

"They're very much an established side, but they have had some ups and downs this season,"

"We got a good result when we played them away in December but I am pretty sure they will be hoping that doesn't happen again."

[E.S.]

[26] Martin Jol on his two old boys ... Berbatov and Carrick

"I think Berbatov has done at United what he did for Spurs, which is score goals,"

"Of course it is at a different level, but overall he has done well even though it is difficult for him to get a regular spot in the team.

"For Carrick it is different. He was one of the last youngsters at West Ham and we got him for not a lot of money and he never looked back.

"He was always playing for me, went for big money to United and was a regular and won all the prizes. That is what he wanted and he did it."

[E.S.]

[27] Fulham Boss Martin Jol and using United defeats to give Fulham belief

"You need a lot of belief in yourself to win there,"

"Look at Crystal Palace in the cup, they did ever so well. My old team Ajax beat them and Blackburn have beaten them so that is the feeling you need.

"You need to feel you're in with a chance otherwise you may as well stay here in London.

"Maybe it is [the biggest challenge in the Premier League] now because they are top of the league, but I can imagine over the last couple of years Chelsea were probably the number one in England.

"Then Man United won the league so it varies, but it is a big game.

"It is one of the biggest games for a club like Fulham, but even when you go to Chelsea or even Arsenal they are probably the same."

[Red News]

Martin Jol on title race

"There is a small difference between two Manchester sides. I would not put my money on either of them. City are strong and of course United has got all the experience. It is the same as always, we will have to wait and see. If we can get a result against United, it will probably make it a little bit easier for City. If not, then I think it will be a battle until the end of the season for them two."

[Red News]

Manchester United squad for tonight

De Gea, Amos, Rafael, Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Fabio, Evra, Valencia, Park, Scholes, Cleverley, Carrick, Pogba, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov.

[E.S.]

[2] Rio started to feel a bit stiff last night ... so a precautionary change was made

"Rio got a bit of stiffness,"

"He gets that, you know, from time to time, the stiffness in his back. So we brought on Chris Smalling as a safeguard.

"If Rio had played it out, he would probably have managed it okay but then not be available for a couple of weeks so I think we've done the right thing at the right time."

[E.S.]

[3] Fergie singles out a couple of MUFC players for praise

"Antonio Valencia and Jonny Evans were our best players. Rafael did very, very well also. I think a player like Valencia has got exceptional talent. Some people actually under-rate him. We don't. That's why we bought him. When he's back and in that form, he gives us a big chance."