It’s been arguably the worst week of Carrick’s Man United career, both as an interim and full-time head coach of the club. First, the controversial 1-0 defeat to ten men Man City and then elimination from the League Cup at the hands of Brighton in midweek.
Four points from four games is the joint worst start in Man United’s Premier League history and considering they’ve conceded two or more goals in four of their last six games, Carrick has a lot of work to do.
The same could be said for Arbeloa. Fulham are 19th with just one point, luckily for them, Coventry are even worse. Still, a 0-0 draw with Liverpool in their previous league game may well prove to be their turning point.
Man United v Fulham team news
The big talking point for United’s past two games has been the absence of Luke Shaw. Fans essentially begged the club to sign a new left-back in the summer, but they didn’t, and predictably, Carrick has been forced to use Patrick Dorgu in the position.
More of a left wing-back, expect Dorgu to once again star against Fulham as Shaw continues to deal with a knock.
United fans are still going to have to wait to see shiny new midfielder Carlos Baleba, who remains ruled out with an ankle injury. Matthijs de Ligt (back), Amad Diallo (muscle), and Manuel Ugarte (ACL) are also out.
As for Fulham, Ryan Sessegnon is a doubt with a groin issue, Kenny Tete won’t be back until after the international break due to a concussion alongside Tom Cairney, who has a knee injury.
Man United vs Fulham predicted line-ups
Fulham: Bernd Leno; Antonee Robinson, Calvin Bassey, David Affengruber, Timothy Castagne; Larsson, Berge; Iwobi, King, Bobb; Garcia
Man United: Lammens; Dorgu, Martinez, Maguire, Dalot; Mainoo, Tielemanns; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko
Kick-off time
The game kicks off at 16:30 local time at Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
Key stat
We spoke about Man United’s leaky defence, but they’ve also scored 13 in their last five games, so expect plenty of goals!