Fulham vs Manchester United Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2011-12-21 - Fulham vs Manchester United

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Fulham v Manchester United
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 21 December 2011 - Kick Off 8pm

Fulham

Martin Jol saw his side secure a vital 3 points at the weekend that pushed them away from the relegation zone, but there are still some rumblings of discontent as the relationship between Jol and Bobby Zamora has deteriorated to the point that Zamora looks set to leave.

Fulham moved up to 11th in the table thanks to the 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and now have a 5 point cushion over Wigan in the final relegation spot. Their form at Craven Cottage is steadily improving and they now have a 3-3-2 record, scoring 14 goals and conceding 9.

The Cottagers have won 2 of their last 8 games in all competitions and they come into this one having won back to back League games in front of their own fans. Fulham had lost back to back home games 1-3 to Everton and Tottenham before these wins over Liverpool and Bolton, both coming without conceding a goal.

David Stockdale continues in goal, but Steve Sidwell and Simon Davies are doubtful. Bobby Zamora looks set to return to the squad after missing the game at the weekend, while Danny Murphy should continue in the side.

Manchester United

Manchester United put in a very good performance at Loftus Road on Sunday to briefly take over at the top of the Premier League. They have since lost that place back to Manchester City, but rumours of United's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Sir Alex Ferguson has set his side the target of being top on New Year's Day, but I believe he would be happy if they start 2012 in the same position and the same number of points behind City.

United are 2nd in the Premier League table, 2 points behind City who have a winnable home game against Stoke City on the same night. Results over the weekend has also seen the Red Devils maintain their 5 point lead over 3rd placed Tottenham, although the latter does have an extra game to play. United will look to improve the best away record in the Premier League on Wednesday: they are currently 6-2-0 away from home, scoring 14 goals and conceding 3.

A disappointing 2-1 defeat at Basel saw United fall out of the Champions League, but they have since bounced back with back to back League wins. Since losing to Manchester City, United have won 6 of their 7 Premier League games and they have only conceded 2 goals in those games. The Red Devils have won 4 consecutive away games in the League, keeping clean sheets in each of those.

Sir Alex Ferguson still has a few injury worries in the squad with the likes of Rafael, Fabio, Tom Cleverley and Michael Owen still nearing full fitness. Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov have improved striking options for the team, but Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic are long term absentees.

Head to Head

Fulham and Manchester United drew 2-2 here last season, with United missing a late penalty that would have put them 1-3 up before conceding a last minute equaliser.

Fulham had won back to back League games at home against United before that draw last season, although it was the Red Devils that had won 4 in a row at Craven Cottage before those defeats.

Interestingly, 8 of the last 9 games between the two teams have ended with at least one of the teams failing to score.

Prediction

This is notoriously a tough venue for teams to come and visit, although it has been less of a hindrance this year as Fulham get used to the demands of Martin Jol and what he expects of his side.

Manchester United have been in very good form, outside of their Champions League exit, and they have made sure they have defended well in winning games of late. The clean sheets they have earned is a testimony to a new way of thinking, while the game at Loftus Road was one of their best performances in the last couple of months, at least in my opinion.

Fulham have a very good recent record against United, winning 2 and drawing the other in the last 3 League games at Craven Cottage. Goals have not been a problem when the teams meet one another and 6 of the last 7 at Craven Cottage have gone 'Over 2.5 Goals'.

United have been performing admirably in defence, and have really started creating chances in front of goal too and they could easily match Everton and Tottenham in scoring 3 themselves. However, I think this is the venue where United have had a hard time in the past so I can see Fulham causing problems and getting amongst the goals themselves- they have scored in their last 7 home games, including twice against Manchester City.

With that being said, the odds against on this finishing with at least 3 goals has to be taken.

The Statistics :

FULHAM LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-17	W	2-0	H v Bolton
	2011-12-05	W	1-0	H v Liverpool
	2011-11-06	L	1-3	H v Tottenham
	2011-10-23	L	1-3	H v Everton
	2011-10-02	W	6-0	H v QPR
	2011-09-18	D	2-2	H v Man_City

MAN_UTD LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-18	W	0-2	A v QPR
	2011-12-03	W	0-1	A v Aston_Villa
	2011-11-19	W	0-1	A v Swansea
	2011-10-29	W	0-1	A v Everton
	2011-10-15	D	1-1	A v Liverpool
	2011-09-24	D	1-1	A v Stoke_City

HEAD TO HEAD FULHAM v MAN_UTD
DATE	HOME	SCORE	AWAY
2010-08-22	Fulham	2-2	Man_Utd
2009-12-19	Fulham	3-0	Man_Utd
2009-03-21	Fulham	2-0	Man_Utd
2008-03-01	Fulham	0-3	Man_Utd
2007-02-24	Fulham	1-2	Man_Utd
2005-10-01	Fulham	2-3	Man_Utd