Ten Hag looking to take Community Shield positives into Premier League opener

Erik ten Hag wants his Manchester United squad to use their Community Shield loss to Manchester City as motivation against Fulham in Friday’s Premier League opener.

Ten Hag’s team almost started the season with another trophy, but fell to defeat in a penalty shootout at Wembley after Alejandro Garnacho’s strike had given them the lead.

Bernardo Silva levelled late on for Pep Guardiola’s City side, with Manuel Akanji scoring the decisive spot-kick after Jonny Evans’ miss from 12 yards.

“We are disappointed,” Ten Hag said. “We have to feel the pain and everyone feels the pain. That’s a good signal, but I also see some positives.

“We performed well, we could’ve won that game, we were twice leading in the game and in the penalties, but we lost, and we’re disappointed. But we take the positives.”

The Red Devils have since bolstered their defensive ranks, with Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joining from Bayern Munich, but they will be without the injured Luke Shaw.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the full-back will miss the start of the season after sustaining a calf injury in pre-season training.

Good morning, Reds #MUFC pic.twitter.com/861GV2wgCK

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 14, 2024

For Fulham, they will be hopeful of maintaining their impressive opening day form, having lost their first Premier League match in just two of their last nine seasons (four wins, three draws).

Marco Silva’s tenure has featured a promotion and two comfortable campaigns in the top flight, and they have regenerated their squad in the transfer window after losing star midfielder Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich.

Emile Smith Rowe and Ryan Sessegnon’s arrivals have improved their forward line, and they will be confident of starting the season strongly at Old Trafford.

The Cottagers prevailed on their last visit to M16, winning 2-1 back in February, but captain Tom Cairney acknowledged a stern challenge awaits them.

“For the quality of their squad, you could argue they’ve been a little bit hit and miss,” Cairney said. “It was amazing for them to win the trophy at the end of last season.

“If they’re on, if they’re firing on all cylinders, it’s a tough night for us.

“They’ve got quality throughout the squad, Champions League winners, but Marco will definitely gear us up to go there and try and win.”

Work hard together. pic.twitter.com/f387wPUkwB

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 13, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Manchester United – Bruno Fernandes

In the absence of Rasmus Hojlund, United will look towards the attacking talents of captain Bruno Fernandes to provide that creative spark in the final third.

Fernandes finished as the Red Devils’ joint-top scorer in the Premier League last season with 10 goals in 35 appearances, while also creating more chances in the division than any other player (114).

The United captain has scored four times against Fulham in his seven games against them in all competitions, only scoring more against Everton (five), Leeds (six) and Aston Villa (seven) of the English sides he has faced.

Fulham – Emile Smith Rowe

All eyes will be on Fulham new boy Smith Rowe following his £34million switch from Arsenal, with the possibility of joining a select few players should he find the target.

Smith Rowe scored on his only Premier League start against United at Old Trafford in a 3-2 defeat during his time with Arsenal in December 2021.

Only Darren Bent (Fulham and Tottenham), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Tottenham) and Frank Lampard (Chelsea and West Ham) have scored away against the Red Devils with two different London clubs in the Premier League.

MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN

United have lost just four of their 34 Premier League meetings with Fulham (24 wins, six draws), but one of those came in their most recent encounter back in February.

Ten Hag’s side have struggled versus sides from the capital, losing their last three home games against teams from London. Should Fulham emerge victorious, it will be the first time since a run of five between December 1985 and September 1986 that United have lost four consecutive games against London clubs.

But the Red Devils start their campaign in front of their home supporters for the eighth season in a row, becoming the first in Premier League history to start a season with a home game in eight seasons consecutively.

Fulham, however, will be out to cause an upset. They won two of their final three Premier League away games last season (one draw), as many as they managed in their first 16 on the road in 2023-24 (five draws, nine defeats).

Following their victory in Manchester in February, Fulham are looking to win on consecutive league visits to United for the first time. They’ve faced them at Old Trafford in their opening league match three times previously, losing all three (0-1 in 1950-51, 2-3 in 2001-02 and 1-5 in 2006-07).

And there is no better man to lead them out than Silva, who is unbeaten in his last nine opening day matches (three wins, six draws), with his last such defeat coming in the Primeira Liga with Estoril in 2012-13 (1-2 v Olhanense).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Manchester United – 58.5%

Draw – 20.9%

Fulham – 20.6%