Forgiveness should be shown to Wayne Rooney if he appears distracted today. The last time the 24-year-old played at Craven Cottage he threw a punch at a corner flag shortly after being sent off by the referee Phil Dowd and then went on to watch his side lose 2-0. Such an implosion cannot be repeated if the champions are to rejoin Chelsea at the top of the table, a task not made easy by the durability of their opponents and the form of Bobby Zamora. The 29-year-old has now scored four times in his last three matches. Sachin Nakrani
Venue Craven Cottage
Tickets Sold out
Last season Fulham 2 Manchester United 0
Referee H Webb
This season's matches 10 Y36, R0, 3.60 cards per game
sportingbet odds Fulham 21-4 Man Utd 9-20 Draw 3-1
Fulham
Subs from Stockdale, Zuberbühler, Kelly, Smalling, Teymourian, Riise, Dikgacoi, Gera, Etuhu, Kamara, Greening, E Johnson, Elm
Doubtful Zamora (back)
Injured Davies (ankle, 26 Dec), A Johnson (groin, 26 Dec), Seol (leg, Jan), Kamara (knee, unknown)
Suspended None
Form guide DWDWLD
Disciplinary record Y21 R1
Leading scorers Dempsey, Zamora 5
Manchester United
Subs from Foster, Owen, Gibson, Giggs, Welbeck, Obertan, Tosic, Scholes
Doubtful Giggs (hamstring), Vidic (calf)
Injured Neville (groin, 27 Dec), Rafael (knee, 27 Dec), Brown (hamstring, 30 Dec), Macheda (hamstring, 30 Dec), Nani (ankle, 30 Dec), Van der Sar (knee, 30 Dec), J Evans (calf, Jan), Fabio (groin, Jan), Ferdinand (calf, Jan), Hargreaves (knee, Jan), O'Shea (thigh, Jan)
Suspended None
Form guide WLWWWL
Disciplinary record Y28 R2
Leading scorer Rooney 12
Match pointers
• Fulham have won only one of their last 14 home meetings with Manchester United in all competitions
• United have gone 18 away league matches since their last draw, winning 14 and losing the other four without scoring
• Fulham are the only Premier League side not to have given away a penalty this season
• Wayne Rooney has created more unconverted scoring opportunities (26) than any other player in the division
• Only Hull (71) have won fewer corners than Fulham (72) while United (152) have picked up the most so far
