Fulham manager Marco Silva believes Fulham will face a stronger Manchester United outfit than the one we met last year.
The Reds have got a new look frontline for 2025/26, adding established Premier League performers Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo from Wolves and Brentford, respectively, in addition to exciting young striker Benjamin Šeško from RB Leipzig.
“Big one,” Silva said of Sunday’s meeting at the Cottage. “We are playing against a great side.
“I know that last season was not what they wanted. Definitely, was below their standards, below the size of the club and all that stuff, [but] they are the first ones to recognise that.
“Last season, they had a lot of great players. This season, they kept almost all of them. And until now, they have been able to spend heavily in the market on some players.
“Two they signed from Premier League [sides] – the number of goals they scored, and how they were important for the teams they played for… And they signed a striker that all the market was looking for.
“The club is Man United, a club that already spent more than £200m, and probably are going to spend more. It's going to be a big clash, in my opinion, great game for us.
“Very important for us, like it's very important for Man United, and it's going to be another very demanding Premier League game, like normal.”
Under Silva, our meetings with United have always been hard fought affairs, so much so that four of our six Premier League clashes have been decided by a winning goal that arrived in the 87th minute or later.
“I think it's not because it's Man United, or because it's Fulham, I think it's much more about the competition that we are playing,” Silva explained. “It's much more about the Premier League and how it's so unpredictable.
“When you expect that you have the points, that you have something guaranteed, be careful, because something can happen always. And our games against Man United have been a very good example.
“And our last game against Brighton is a good example, like last season against Brighton away from home was another example that we lost in the last minute from a penalty kick.
“What it shows is that the games, they have been very balanced, decided by the detail against Man United. Very competitive games always, against a very good side.”