By David Hobbs
September 30 2005

Manchester United will be looking to round-off a successful night in Europe and pick up maximum points when they travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday to take on Fulham.

Fulham v. Manchester United
Barclays Premier League
Craven Cottage
Saturday 1st October, 2005 

On and off-field problems have been troubling United recently with assistant boss Carlos Queiroz branding fans stupid for booing United last week following their dismal performance against Blackburn.

However, things have started to brighten up after a good performance and result against Benfica as Ruud van Nistelrooy helped United win 2-1 on Tuesday.

Chants of "4-4-2" have been ringing around Old Trafford as fans want the team to revert to a proven 4-4-2 formation rather than a continental 4-5-1.

"The loss against Blackburn was a travesty of a result because we missed some good chances but this was different," commented Sir Alex Ferguson after the Benfica victory.

"There was a little bit of anxiety among the players after they scored, but once the game settled down again there was only going to be one winner and that was us.

"There's no point feeling sorry for yourself, you just have to get on with it and we did."

Fulham boss Chris Coleman will be hoping his side won't be on the end of a thumping as United try to prove they're not defensive and boring. The Cottagers are just above the drop-zone in 17th place and hope to throw more points onto the board.

Coleman was unhappy with his side for not converting chances in their 1-0 defeat to Spurs. He said: "I thought we defended well enough, but when we got in final third, the last pass was poor and when we got chances, we didn't finish."

Team News: 
Skipper Roy Keane, Louis Saha Gary Neville and Gabriel Heinze are long-term absentees for United while Mikael Silvestre is hoping to overcome a minor knock.

Meanwhile, Fulham are without Collins John and Mark Pembridge but Claus Jensen could feature if he passes a late fitness test.

ManUtdWeb Prediction:
The travelling United fans must get behind their team at Craven Cottage and, with the momentum they picked up against Benfica, they should take all 3 points.

David Hobbs - Webmaster
[david@manutdweb.com]