Michael Carrick has brought Matheus Cunha into the Manchester United side to face Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester United are back at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon to take on Fulham, with Michael Carrick aiming to preserve his unbeaten record as interim manager.
United have made an impressive start under Carrick, recording back-to-back victories against Manchester City and Arsenal in his first two games in charge. Those results saw the Reds collect six points from matches against the league’s top two sides.
Attention now shifts to a different type of test, as an in-form Fulham side visit Manchester looking to cause an upset. The Cottagers currently sit seventh in the Premier League, just four points behind United in fourth.
In contrast to recent high-profile encounters against City and Arsenal, United will be expected to dictate play and claim all three points.
Carrick reveals one thing he’s expecting from Cunha vs Fulham
Carrick has decided to keep things similar in this clash, with just one change to the team that won against the league leaders last weekend.
With Patrick Dorgu unavailable due to injury, Matheus Cunha comes back into the side after impacting both of the last two games.
The Brazilian is a different kind of player to Dorgu and Carrick has explained how he wants Cunha to showcase his ball-carrying skills against Fulham.
“Yeah, I think it was a natural one, especially after the last two games. I think what Matheus offers and he’s got something that a little bit different, you know,” the United boss said.
“He carries the ball, he’s got a real presence on the pitch for us and he’s done unbelievably well both games when he’s came on and had a big impact for us.
“So yeah, it’s disappointing for Pat. He’s been fantastic, you know, he’s had two fantastic performances since I’ve been here in so many different ways and obviously the goals help, but his performances have been good. But Matheus is a fantastic player, so we look forward to seeing him play today.”
United subs will be key
The only bad thing about seeing Cunha starting is the fact that he can’t come on and impact the game off the bench. We saw how beneficial that quality off the bench was in the last two games.
Joshua Zirkzee and Shea Lacey have both returned to the squad and they will be the kind of players who can make an impact off the bench against Fulham, as will Benjamin Šeško.
Carrick has shown that he can be brave with his substitutions and it can often be the difference between winning and losing.
He will hope that United will have the three points wrapped up by the midway point in the second half. But if they’re not, the bench players could end up being the difference-makers.
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