Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at Craven Cottage on Saturday
Manchester United head to Fulham on Saturday in such a contrasting position to the one in which they hosted the Whites in December.
It’s hard to believe that the 4-1 win over the Premier League strugglers during Jose Mourinho’s tenure came only two months ago, with goals from Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford sealing the win then.
That one-sided victory was followed by away losses to Valencia and Liverpool which brought about the demise of Mourinho, and since then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has led the Red Devils to nine wins and a draw in 10 games, with spirits raised and fans thrilled along the way.
Victory at Craven Cottage would take United into the top four for at least 24 hours, and that is something that barely seemed possible when the Norwegian arrived with his side staring at an 11-point deficit from the Champions League qualification spots.
Chris Smalling will be fit to return against his former club, giving Solskjaer extra options at the heart of defence. The former England international has been unavailable since injuring his foot against Claudio Ranieri’s side in December.
Marcos Rojo is back in training after his brief return to Argentina due to his own injury issues, but he is expected to be given more time before being considered for selection.
Marcus Rashford suffered a dead leg away to Leicester last week but should be available to start, while Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian are both absent.
Neither side have any suspensions.
Solskjaer’s main dilemma will be in choosing between Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and the returning Chris Smalling at the heart of defence to partner Victor Lindelof.
Higher up, there should be a return to the starting XI for Anthony Martial after Alexis Sanchez struggled to have a serious effect on proceedings having got the nod at Leicester. Marcus Rashford ought to be selected as the focal point in attack, although Romelu Lukaku stands by just in case the England man cannot recover from a dead leg.
Otherwise United are likely to go with the same line-up which has served them well under Solskjaer to this point. The only question in the back of the Norwegian’s mind will be whether this is a good opportunity to make a few changes before Paris Saint-Germain come to town on Tuesday.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah will not be eligible to play due to the terms applied to Premier League loan moves, but Claudio Ranieri will be able to call upon Cyrus Christie and Andre Schurrle with both having recovered from injuries.
There could be club debuts for Lazar Markovic and Havard Nordtveit following their arrivals in the January transfer window.
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Kick off is 12:30 GMT (07:30 ET) on Saturday, and will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBCSN in the United States, and on various channels around the world.