Fulham v Manchester United LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as Michael Carrick under pressure

“We feel we’ve started and been in all the games we’ve played, if not being the better team at the start of games, we’re not having a real struggle all the time,” said Michael Carrick in his pre-match conference ahead of today’s game.

“We’ve done a lot of good things, the belief comes from that. The good things we’ve done get lost in the surrounding feeling but they don’t get lost by us.

“ It’s about trusting what we do and what we’re good at and keep doing those things. It’s fine, fine margins. Everything escalates from there. We live in a world of instant reaction and judgement, which is fine, it is what it is, but it’s not in my world. Being realistic and understanding this would come, learning about each other is reality important,” added the Man Utd boss.

Manchester United were rather distracted by their own ineptitude on Wednesday night so they probably did not have time to study the score from San Siro. AC Milan 0-2 Benfica was further evidence of Ruben Amorim’s gift for underachievement, even if it was not his costliest defeat in the Europa League; that came in Bilbao 16 months ago.

Here’s the report from United’s disastrous midweek outing…

There was history in the ignominy. Manchester United can specialise in finding new ways to rewrite the record books. For a club who keep recording new lows, this was not one, but several.

It was the first time in half a century that United had led 2-0 at Old Trafford and lost, since a 3-2 Tottenham triumph over Tommy Docherty’s team in 1976. Not since 1984 had they been winning at home at half-time and been beaten; Ipswich’s 2-1 victory against Ron Atkinson’s United has now been superseded. Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, United had gone 2-0 up on their own turf 145 times, won 143 and lost none.

We have three games kicking off any moment now in the Premier League, with both Liverpool and Manchester City in action.

The Reds face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, with City hosting Sunderland. Elsewhere, Leeds take on Crystal Palace at Elland Road.

Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes has five assists in his last five Premier League appearances in London.

In fact, in the last two seasons, Fernandes has more assists (5) than any Fulham player has managed in the capital (Harry Wilson, now at Leeds, on 4).

Manchester United have lost just one of their last 21 Premier League games against Fulham (16 wins, four draws), going down 2-1 at Old Trafford in February 2024.

Fulham are winless in their last 10 Premier League home games against Manchester United (two draws, lost eight) since winning back-to-back matches against them at Craven Cottage in 2009.

Man United have gone crashing out of the Carabao Cup in a 3-2 loss against Brighton, leaving them with just one domestic win to start the season.

Adam Clery analyses what’s going wrong at Old Trafford, asks if the blame can be placed on Michael Carrick, or whether the players have to shoulder more of the responsibility.

There are a few issues that Michael Carrick needs to juggle in his Manchester United squad.

Benjamin Sesko is a minor doubt with an undisclosed knock while Amad Diallo, Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte remain out.

Luke Shaw and Carlos Baleba have missed games with injuries but both could feature this afternoon. If Baleba does play it will be his debut for United since joining this summer.

Predicted Man Utd XI: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Mainoo, Tielemans; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko

Alvaro Arbeloa will be without the services of defender Kenny Tete who is recovering from a concussion.

Midfielder Ryan Sessegnon is sidelined with a groin issue and fellow midfielder Tom Cairney is absent due to a knee problem.

Predicted Fulham XI: Leno; Castagne, Affengruber, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Charles; Bobb, King, Iwobi; Garcia