Man Utd v Fulham clash kicks off

Manchester United 0 Fulham 0

The premiership clash between Manchester United and Fulham has just kicked off at Old Trafford.

Manchester United’s bid to go top of the Premiership for the first time this season was reinforced by the introduction of eight big names to their side to face Fulham at Old Trafford today.

With victory required to depose stuttering title favourites Arsenal at the summit, there was no room for the type of experimentation Sir Alex Ferguson opted for in La Coruna on Tuesday.

So back came, among others, Fabien Barthez, Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy to face the Cottagers.

Wes Brown returned after his recent hamstring problems, although Mikael Silvestre, Roy Keane and Juan Sebastian Veron all missed out through injury.

United were defending a 10-match unbeaten league record but Fulham were in decent form themselves, having not lost in Premiership action since the beginning of February.

Still it did not seem enough to warrant Luis Boa Morte’s brave declaration that this would be Fulham’s “easiest” match of the season.