Marco Silva has seen plenty of duels pushed to the wire with Man United. He leads his group to face a club with fire in the belly to bounce back from last year in what will be a "very demanding" game.
‘They are the first ones to recognise that’
**Man United**have been in dire straits. The club collapsed to finish in 15th place last term despite moving on from **Erik ten Hag**to bring in Ruben Amorim in November. The fallen giant got only 44 goals last term in the Premier League,, the fifth lowest tally in the top tier, and totalled 42 points.
“Big one. We are playing against a great side. Last season was not what they wanted. It was below their standards, below the size of the club and all that stuff. They are the first ones to recognise that.”
They have brought in Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha for almost £130 million. Ideally, both men will be tens in the 3-4-2-1 system and should offer individual quality with ball carries, speed, and goals, having scored 20 times for **Brentford**and 15 times for **Wolves**respectively last campaign.
Benjamin Sesko stood out much less on his debut through a half-hour cameo in a 1-0 loss to **Arsenal**at Old Trafford. But the £66 million man from **RB Leipzig**arrives with a big reputation to uphold.
“Last season, they had a lot of great players and kept almost all of them. Until now, they have spent heavily in the market. Two they signed from Premier League: the number of goals they scored, and how they were important for whom they played. They signed a striker all the market was looking for.”
For the manager, the match means a lot as a statement of intent for the season in front of their fans.
*“The club is Man United, a club that already spent more than £200m, and probably are going to spend more. It's going to be a big clash, in my opinion, great game for us. Very important for us, like it's very important for Man United, and it's going to be a very demanding Premier League game.”*
‘It’s so unpredictable’
The Red Devils might have won five of the six meetings between the two teams since the Cottagers came back to the top flight in 2022, but four of those victories required goals in the final fifteen minutes. On top of that, **Fulham**knocked them out as reigning champions of the **FA Cup**this year.
Silva spoke more about why the encounters between the two sides have been so tense in recent years.
*“I think it's not because it's Man United, or because it's Fulham, I think it's much more about the competition that we are playing. It's more about the Premier League and how it's so unpredictable.”*
It is a familiar feeling from the fixtures he has overseen against Brighton. Rodrigo Muniz scored an equaliser at the death against the Seagulls last weekend to earn a 1-1 stalemate away at the Amex Stadium, where Joao Pedro put away a penalty in injury time to take all three points back in March.
“And our last game against Brighton is a good example, like last season against Brighton away.”
What he has taken from the defeats is that nothing is a guarantee in the top tier of English football.
“When you expect that you have the points, that you have something guaranteed, be careful, because something can happen always. And our games against Man United have been a very good example The games have been very balanced, decided by the detail against Man United. Very competitive.”