1. Manchester United vs. Fulham: Overview of the 2024-2025 season timeline
2024-2025 Premier League season:
Round 1: On August 17, 2024, Manchester United will face Fulham in the opening match of the season.
Round 2: On August 24, 2024, Brighton will face Manchester United.
Round 3: August 31, 2024, Manchester United vs. Liverpool.
Round 4: September 14, 2024, Southampton vs. Manchester United.
Round 5: September 21, 2024, Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United.
Round 6: September 28, 2024, Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur.
Round 7: 5 October 2024, Aston Villa vs. Manchester United.
Round 8: 19 October 2024, Manchester United vs. Brentford.
Round 9: 26 October 2024, West Ham United vs. Manchester United.
Round 10: 2 November 2024, Manchester United vs. Chelsea.
Round 11: 9 November 2024, Manchester United vs. Leicester City.
Round 12: 23 November 2024, Ipswich Town vs. Manchester United.
Round 13: November 30, 2024, Manchester United vs. Everton.
Judging from the schedule, this FA Cup match is sandwiched between fierce league battles, which will be a major test of Manchester United’s physical fitness management and personnel arrangements.
2. Historical clashes: Manchester United has the upper hand, while Fulham has suffered on the road
When it comes to the historical clashes between these two teams, the data is overwhelmingly in Manchester United’s favor.
- Of the last 12 meetings between the two teams, Manchester United has won 9, drawn 2, and only lost 1.
- In the 9 matches since 2021, Manchester United has won 7, drawn 1, and lost 1, with 6 of those matches being narrow victories by just 1 goal.
- Fulham has only won 1 and drawn 2 of the last 12 visits to Old Trafford, losing a full 9.
From these figures, it is clear that Manchester United has an advantage in terms of both mentality and tactics. However, if we look more closely at the last five encounters, the scores are often close – most are only one goal apart – so it can be seen that Fulham is not completely defenceless.
In particular, in the history of the FA Cup, Manchester United has been even stronger against Fulham:
- Since 2009, Manchester United has beaten Fulham in the FA Cup three times, with scores of 3-1 and 4-1;
- In the last 9 FA Cup matches against Fulham, Manchester United has advanced to the next round in all of them.
These statistics show that, despite its progress, Fulham still faces a huge psychological and competitive challenge if it wants to break through Manchester United in the FA Cup.
3. Manchester United’s recent FA Cup performance: full of suspense and hard-fought
Since legendary manager Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United’s dominance in the Premier League has not been as strong as before, but their record in the FA Cup has remained good.
- In the last 11 seasons, Manchester United has advanced to the FA Cup quarterfinals 10 times;
- Since losing to Liverpool in 2006, Manchester United has advanced to the fifth round (i.e., the quarterfinals) in all 14 appearances;
- In the past 13 FA Cup matches, 4 have gone to extra time and all have been won;
- Manchester United have also won the 3 penalty shootouts.
It’s no wonder that many fans say Manchester United are “hardy” and can always find a way to win at the crucial moment.
And according to the predicted data given by Opta, the probability of winning or losing this match is as follows:
- Manchester United win: 45.3%
- Fulham win: 27.8%
- Draw: 26.9%
There is a more than one-in-four chance of extra time or a penalty shootout, which means that even if the strength of the teams seems unequal, there is still a lot of suspense in this game.
4. Tactical style comparison: Manchester United is better at counterattacking
According to a set of statistics from Opta, in the 19 games under United manager Ruben Amorim, the team’s performance in terms of ball possession has a clear impact on the results:
- When the ball possession rate exceeds 50%: 11 games won only 3, lost 6, the winning rate is only 27.3%;
- When the ball possession rate is less than 50%: 3 wins and 3 losses in 8 games, with a winning percentage of 37.5%.
This shows that Manchester United is more likely to be effective when facing a strong opponent or giving up the initiative of ball possession. The core reason is that Manchester United players find it difficult to break through a compact defence in a positional battle, but they can create more opportunities with speed and space in a counterattack.
Therefore, Amoalim may choose to “retreat in order to advance” in this match against Fulham, surrendering the ball to Fulham and then creating threats with quick counterattacks.
5. The key roles of missing players and B-费
In this match, Manchester United is short of players:
- The absentees include: Mount, Ménu, Diallo, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Evans.
- Manchester United’s central midfielder Bruno Fernandes (B-Fee) will be the most crucial player.
The good news is that B-Fe has contributed 7 goals and 4 assists in the last 11 FA Cup matches. His long-range shots, set pieces, organizational skills, and finishing ability are likely to be the deciding factor in the game.
Therefore, if Manchester United adopts the strategy of “letting the opponent control the ball and counterattacking” and formulates tactics around B-Fe, this style of play can actually improve the chances of advancing.
6. Fulham has both challenges and hopes
Although Fulham’s record against Manchester United is extremely dismal (only 1 win in 21 matches), the team has been doing quite well on the road recently:
- In the last 10 away games, Fulham has achieved a good result of 6 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss;
- In the last 4 away games, they have won all of them and scored 2 goals in each game;
- In the 16 away games this season, only one against Manchester United was shut out, and in the other 15 games, at least one goal was scored.
These statistics show that Fulham has an offensive ability that cannot be ignored, especially when they are playing away from home. They have drawn with Liverpool and defeated Chelsea and Newcastle, which has also given them a certain amount of confidence.
In addition, FA Cup matches do not emphasize long-term performance like the league, and sometimes an outburst can bring surprises.
7. Prediction summary: Another “one-goal victory”?
Looking back at the past matches between the two teams, Manchester United has been slightly better most of the time. In particular, of the six wins in recent years, five were “one-goal narrow victories”. Therefore, this game is likely to see a repeat of this situation:
- Manchester United will advance with a narrow home victory;
- Fulham may have a chance to create a miracle by relying on penalties if they can drag the game into overtime.
However, considering Manchester United’s traditional strength in the FA Cup and B’s consistent performance, they are still the favored side.
Conclusion: The charm of the FA Cup lies in its unpredictability
The reason why the FA Cup is known as the “Magic Cup” is because it is full of unpredictable plot twists and stories of dark horses rising. Although Manchester United has stronger overall strength and a more glorious history, they cannot underestimate Fulham, a challenger in good form.
For football fans, this match is definitely worth staying up late to watch. Whether Manchester United continues its legend of “being hard to beat in extra time” or Fulham stages a “big upset”, it will be one of the highlights of this season’s FA Cup.
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