Manchester United vs Fulham lineup exposed! Marcus Rashford may be abandoned, with one new signing starting and two fearing to be substitutes

When Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday night, Ten Hag will be aiming to get off to a flying start in the 2024/25 Premier League. The last time the two teams met, the Red Devils lost 2-1 away to the Farmers, and it was also a revenge battle. As this is the opening game of the league, a win will see United sit at the top of the table for at least half a day.

Manchester United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at home in the opening round of last season, but the victory was controversial, with Onana struck a late opponent in the face and narrowly escaped a penalty. This time, United will be hoping to win even more beautifully, repeating the big win over Fulham in the first round of the 2006/07 season, which marked the pinnacle of the combination of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has three new summer signings in action, including Bayern Munich defenders De Ligt and Mazraoui, who only joined on Tuesday, and will be battling it out for two places in the injury-plagued backline.

The 27-year-old Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre · Onana is sure to start and there is no doubt barring injury. He improved as he started last season, finishing his first season with 13 games without conceding a goal. In front of him, Lisandro · Martinez are also iron starters, and the Argentina of the iron guard will be produced between De Ligt and Maguire, United Kingdom Manchester Evening News believes that Maguire, who has experienced pre-season training and warm-up games, is more likely to start.

Ten Hag's alternative is to have Lima play at left-back like the Community Shield, so that Maguire can play alongside De Ligt, and the stats show that the 'big head' league stats last season were the highest of all existing centre-backs. However, given that De Ligt has not experienced training camps and games, it is more likely that he will be a substitute first.

Ten Hag explained: "We've been training together for about 10 days now and it always takes a while to fuse. More teams will have this problem. At the start of the season, the aim is not to drop points, to train hard and to work harder both on and off the ball. We have to drill one after the other to reach a higher level of performance. We'll see how quickly we can complete this process.」

United now only have two authentic full-backs, with Diogu· Dalow and Mazraoui almost certain to make the appearance, with the main thing to do is to determine who is left and who is right. In terms of the number of games and the amount of time he has played at left-back, Darlow is even better. Ten Hag has been cautious about the introduction of new players at times, but the lack of full-back options could force him to have Mazraoui on the pitch right away. Combining all of the above, Mazraoui could play at right-back, Darlow on the left, Lima and Harry Maguire in central defence, and De Ligt and Evans on the bench.

Casemiro is unlikely to be able to leave the club this summer, and he was in excellent form against Manchester City in the Community Shield, however, the 32-year-old still has to go through the real test of the Premier League when the opposition midfield is mostly youngsters. His partner will certainly be Kobe · Maynor, while Mason · Mount in the number 10 will continue to earn a place as centre-forward Hojlund is out injured and new signing Zirkze has not played a minute.

Manchester United captain Bruno ·Fernandes may continue to play as a 'false nine', while he may be flanked by youngsters Garnacho and Amad · Diallo to the left and right. Diallo should retain his place in the squad after a strong performance throughout pre-season, while Garnacho scored a goal in the Community Shield, and Marcus Rashford missed plenty of chances and was thought to be relegated to the bench.

Speaking before the game, Ten Hag said of United's chances: "We created a lot of chances and the key is to stay calm and be calm. In the coming weeks and months, in two restricted areas, this will be an area of improvement to watch. We've wasted too many opportunities."

Ahead of the start of the new season, Manchester United also activated the renewal clause in the sponsorship contract with Qualcomm Snapdragon, the advertising partner on the chest of the shirt, extending the partnership until 2029. The Qualcomm community reportedly saw a 256% increase in users after the Red Devils' new jersey was released, prompting them to extend their contracts immediately. In addition to the contract renewal, Qualcomm Snapdragon will also expand the collaboration, and its logo will appear on the back of the jersey, just like in the Community Shield, which will be located below the jersey number.

Predicted Man Utd vs Fulham starters: Onana/Mazraoui, Maguire, Lima, Darlow/Casemiro, Meno/Diallo, Mount, Garnacho/B Fee.