please log in to view this image Sunday 20th January 4pm Premier League Craven Cottage Disaster struck against Utd, both in terms of the result and the treatment table. It's vital that we bounce back well and have a coherent plan, as we face back-to-back matches in Fulham. Our first opponents have been having a rough time of it recently, but they'll see an opportunity here. We need to make a statement and start our Kane and Sonless run with a good performance. Will Pochettino be able to salvage something from the squad or will Ranieri continue to be a thorn in our side? The original side from SW6 came into the season full of expectation and hoping for big things. A strong campaign in the Championship saw them finish 3rd, missing out on 2nd on the final day. That loss to Birmingham lead to a play-off win over their rivals Villa, demonstrating football's love of stories. How much strengthening did they need for a Premier League campaign? £100m in signings, plus a raft of expensive loans, apparently. Massive upheavals at football clubs rarely go to plan and this was no exception. Slavisa Jokanovic struggled to assemble a cohesive team with so many new faces on show. After 12 games and only a solitary victory he was let go and replaced with Claudio Ranieri. Switching ex-Chelsea men seemed to have an immediate effect, as his debut brought a second win. Southampton were only joined by Huddersfield in that win column since that day, though. If the Italian wishes to avoid the fate of his Serbian predecessor, then he'll need to start getting results soon. All of Fulham's wins in the league have been at Craven Cottage, so he'll be looking to build on that. Their best hope for remaining in the division is to push on there and hope to nick some draws away. The freezing chill from the Thames may help them now, if visiting sides are feeling a little fragile. There was no equivalent fixture last season, but we met early on in this one. The second game of the campaign saw us pick up another three points, in a fairly comfortable victory. The first half was largely frustrating, as we dominated possession but failed to take our changes. Moura put us ahead just before the break and most expected Fulham to struggle after that. The reverse was true, as they bolted out of the blocks after half-time, equalising through Mitrovic. The introduction of Dembele reversed that momentum, though and Trippier and Kane made it 3-1 at full time: No injury news yet, but Kane and Son will definitely miss out. Aurier missed the last game after being arrested, but will probably be available. Fulham have a few doubts, but no major injuries. Neither side has any suspensions. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli; Kane, Son. Subs: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Foyth, Rose, Skipp, Lamela, Llorente. League form: WWWLWL. Fulham: Rico; Odoi, Le Marchand, Ream; Christie, Chambers, Seri, Bryan; Schurrle, Mitrovic, R. Sessegnon. Subs: Bettineli, S. Sessegnon, Cairney, Kebano, Vietto, Cisse, Ayite. League form: LDDWLL. Referee: Craig Pawson. TV: Sky Sports. What formation and personnel should we use, given the enforced changes and upcoming semi-final? How would you balance the bench and is there anyone that you'd leave out entirely? Should we promote anyone from the academy and if so, who?
Also notable is that Kaziah Sterling isn't in the squad for the U23 game being played at this very moment
The Goons play Chelsky, so a Chelsky non-win may give a bit of leeway this weekend. I would be brave and start Skipp for this one, and read the riot act to Alli and Eriksen demanding an exceptional 1st half performance from both.
Lloris; Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Aurier, Winks, Rose; Lamela, Alli, Eriksen; Llorente. Subs: Gazzaniga, Trippier, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Davies, Skipp, Sterling.
In retrospect, maybe we shouldn't have had George Marsh play 90 minutes this afternoon... I guess there's only one solution for central midfield please log in to view this image ...oh ****, he's done his ankle too!
Indeed. I heard that dreaded expression during the week on a phone in "we've got our united back". What does that mean? Attractive football? No - it means midfielders that cannot be sent off regardless of any assault they make on the opposition. Sometimes not just midfielders.
Most of the referees had enough of Moanrinho and it showed in their decision making, all of sudden a new manager comes in and referees immediately start giving United the `benefit of doubt` again.
