Fulham v Manchester United predictions: Cottagers industry can earn some reward

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Fulham v Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Fulham or draw double chance
1pt 19-20 Hills

Team news

Fulham
Aleksandar Mitrovic (foot), Neeskens Kebano (calf) and Manor Solomon (knee) are injured and Kenny Tete and Harrison Reed serve one-match bans.

Manchester United
Diogo Dalot is suspended and Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho (both illness) and Antony (groin) are doubts. Raphael Varane, Brandon Williams and Axel Tuanzebe are injured and Aaron Wan-Bissaka lacks match fitness.

Match preview

Inconsistent away performances have damaged Manchester United's top-four hopes and another setback could be on the cards when the Red Devils take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

United take on a Fulham side weakened by the absence of injured centre-forward Aleksandar Mitrovic and are odds-on to bag maximum points, but their backers could face disappointment unless there is a marked improvement on last Sunday's dismal 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

The loss at Villa Park was United's third away reverse of the season and the disjointed nature of the performance harked back to the start of the season when they opened up with defeats at home to Brighton (2-1) and at Brentford (4-0).

Ten Hag was without several key players against the Villans, including suspended attacking-midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who returned to action with a goal and an assist in United's 4-2 Thursday night success at home to Villa in the EFL Cup third round.

Having Fernandes available is a major boost but United are far from full strength and Ten Hag has a conundrum to solve at right-back with Diogo Dalot serving a one-match ban.

Selecting a centre forward will also be far from straightforward with Cristiano Ronaldo battling to recover from illness and Anthony Martial only recently returning from an injury layoff.

Marcus Rashford is an option to play through the middle but the England attacker could be missed out wide because there are also doubts over the fitness of Jadon Sancho and Antony.

Given the selection issues at both ends of the pitch, there is every chance of another below-par United display and Fulham are good enough to take advantage.

Mitrovic is a big loss for the Londoners but they played some decent football without the Serbian at Manchester City last Saturday when it took an injury-time Erling Haaland penalty to consign them to a 2-1 defeat.

Fulham will have to make two more enforced changes due to suspensions for midfielder Harrison Reed and right back Kenny Tete.

But they spent the summer assembling a deep squad and there is enough quality in reserve to ensure that they remain competitive.

Cottagers' manager Marco Silva loves to attack but his team have had a resilience about them in the majority of their matches and fully deserve their mid-table status.

Silva's side suffered their only home loss of the season last month when midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah's eighth-minute dismissal contributed to a 4-1 defeat against Newcastle, but, barring any similar mishaps, they should secure at least a point this weekend.