BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton has offered his two cents on the forthcoming Premier League clash between Manchester United and Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Manchester United suffered their first Premier League defeat of 2025 last weekend with their 3-1 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils kicked off 2025 by securing a point against league leaders Liverpool at Anfield before knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the Emirates on penalties.
Ruben Amorim’s men secured their first Premier League win last Thursday after Amad Diallo’s hat-trick sealed a 3-1 comeback victory against Southampton.
United’s Premier League results have fallen off a cliff in the 2024-25 campaign and the Red Devils have won only seven of their 22 league matches this season.
Ruben Amorim’s side languish in 13th place in the Premier League table and United are 14 points adrift from the top four and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Sutton on Man Utd and Amorim
Ruben Amorim has faced a mountainous task ahead of him at Old Trafford after he succeeded Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager in 2024.
The Red Devils were simply outclassed by Brighton last Sunday and Amorim, who arrived at United from Sporting CP last November, was deeply critical of his team.
Following the defeat to the Seagulls at Old Trafford, Amorim claimed that the current Red Devils team are “maybe” the “worst” side in the club’s history.
Amorim has since walked back on his claim, but the 39-year-old Portuguese manager argued that he is not “delusional” about the problems facing United.
Speaking in his BBC Sport column, Chris Sutton pointed out that the former Sporting CP boss was “overly emotional” with his initial remarks about his United side.
“I was totally gutless last week, going for Manchester United to draw with Brighton,” he said.
“I put it down to the stick I get on social media whenever I predict United will lose getting to me and clouding my judgement, and it is not going to happen again.
“My gut was telling me Brighton are a better team than United but I didn’t listen. I have the same feeling about Fulham and I am not going to ignore it.
“Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has backtracked a bit after calling his team ‘maybe the worst’ United side ever when they lost to Brighton, claiming he was speaking more about himself.
“I don’t think that was a smart move, no matter what he meant by it. I like Amorim but being overly emotional is not going to help his cause.”
Sutton predicts Fulham vs Man Utd
United returned to winning ways on Thursday evening after a 2-1 victory over Scottish side Rangers in the Europa League at Old Trafford.
Fulham are 10th in the Premier League table and Marco Silva’s side are seven points clear of the Red Devils.
Marco Silva’s men returned to winning ways last weekend with a 2-0 win over Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City side at the King Power Stadium.
Sutton has backed Fulham to beat United 2-1 at Craven Cottage, but he did claim the outcome of the match “depends on whether” the Red Devils turn up or not.
“In terms of this game, let’s get it right – Fulham are bright going forward, they are going to be bolder than United will be, and they will take the game to them,” he continued.
“That scenario has suited United in the past, but the outcome of this game really depends on whether they turn up, and at the moment that feels like the toss of a coin.”
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