The goal is to finish first of course, but for Manchester United, major progress has been achieved in the first season under manager Erik ten Hag. United head to the Championship Sunday clash against Fulham FC sitting in third place, and that is a dramatic improvement over last year’s sixth place finish under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Most importantly, they can head into the season’s final day with no stress and strife, Champions League qualification for next season has already been clinched.
Manchester United vs Fulham FC FYIs
Championship Sunday, May 28, 4:30pm GMT, Old Trafford
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Man United Team News for Both Sides: go here
Google Result Probability: Manchester United win 62%, Draw 20%, Fulham FC win 18%
Premier League Position: Manchester United 3rd, 72 pts Fulham FC 10th, 52 pts
Premier League Form Guide: Manchester United WWWLL Fulham FC DWWLL
Ten Hag summed it up perfectly:
“I think in this league, that’s a good base to be in the top four, but we want to compete for the title, but it has to be realistic and you can first say when you have your squad in the end of the transfer window and also the winter transfer window what you can do. The squad is there and you can make a statement about if it’s realistic or not.”
Exactly, on one hand, they can be very proud of the progress that has already been made, while also being hyper-aware that there is still a long ways to go. Ten Hag pointed out just how important this summer transfer window is for him, his squad and this club.
“Now we are far away, so we have a lot of work to do. We’ve made progress with this team, with this squad but we need better players if we want to compete for the highest,” he added.
Expect the Dutchman to rotate his squad and play some fringe players here.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Fulham FC
De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia; Fred, McTominay; Eriksen, Garnacho, Sancho; Martial.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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