Game Week 5 Predictions: Fulham to trouble United at Craven Cottage

Manchester United needs results to ease pressure. Their hosts, Fulham has real reasons to go all out on Sunday too. This will be a cracker a...

Manchester United needs results to ease pressure. Their hosts, Fulham has real reasons to go all out on Sunday too. This will be a cracker at Craven Cottage. (Photo credit: Opta)

 Fulham vs Manchester United

Craven Cottage

4:30pm

Manchester United must beat Fulham on Sunday to avoid another round of meltdown among the fans. The season has started poorly already; it's time to claw things back a bit.

Fulham had lost three straight games in the league before traveling to Anfield. The fixture against Liverpool was one that typically supplies goals, but the one played last weekend ended in a goalless stalemate, with the Lilywhites feeling they missed a chance to beat the Reds.

It will be quite tricky for the Red Devils at Craven Cottage on Sunday. United hosted Brighton on Wednesday in the League Cup and lost 3-2, having led 2-0 in the opening ten minutes. There's no margin for error for Michael Carrick, who is already under intense pressure.

Last weekend in the league, Manchester United lost at home to Manchester City. The PGMOL has apologized to the Red Devils for the error leading to Manchester City's goal; the on-field decision was offside, but the VAR intervened and overruled the on-field decision.

Beyond the 1-0 scoreline, it was embarrassing for United to play with a one-man advantage for two-thirds of the game without really penetrating their visitors. You'll be forgiven for thinking it was City who had the man advantage at some points in the game.

How will they lineup? Alvaro Arbeloa will be excited for what he saw at Anfield. The Spaniard was under intense pressure before the result at Liverpool; now he can head into the break with another top result, which would lift him out of the drop zone.

Bruno Fernandes is the main man for United, but whenever he has a poor game, the team struggles to create anything. Marcus Rashford and Bryan Mbeumo will hope to step up for the visitors as they hope to return to winning ways.

Verdict: Both teams to score.