On Sunday afternoon, at 14:00 GMT (09:00 ET), Manchester United will lock horns with Fulham at Old Trafford for match day 24 of the 25/26 Premier League season.
This will be a very different challenge to the ones served up by Manchester City and Arsenal in Michael Carrick's first two games in charge. Many fans are suggesting that we will learn more about the team from this game than the previous two.
So, with that in mind - what can we expect from Fulham?
It does not feel like an exaggeration to say that Marco Silva's side have been one of the biggest surprise stories of the Premier League season so far. Coming into the game, The Cottagers sit in 7th place, with 34 points, as they occupy a European position.
Fulham have not played European football since they reached the Europa League final in 2010, and have since spent six seasons in the Championship, so it cannot be overstated how impressive an achievement it would be to get back into those spots.
One player to be particularly wary of is Harry Wilson, who has been one of the better players in the league so far this season. Up until now, he has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 22 games, with 20 of those being starts.
Those eight goals have come from an expected goals of just 3.89, which highlights just how good a finisher he is. His most recent goal was a late free-kick to secure all three points at home to Brighton last week. Many will remember his free-kick against United for Derby County back in September of 2018.
Truth be told, Fulham don't have loads of goal sources outside of Wilson, but Raul Jimenez has still found the back of the net five times this season, and is still going strong long after his life threatening injury.
The Mexican striker scored an absolute bullet header in a recent win against Chelsea, and is often a serious threat in the air, so that will be something United will need to consider - ideally it will be Harry Maguire marking the striker in this one.
Although he is not getting the numbers to back it up, youngster Joshua King has shown a lot of promising with his ball carrying and dynamism in the number ten role this season. As good as they are, a double pivot of Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro is not the most dynamic pairing, so that is another thing to be careful of.
Fulham seem to have a real collection of speedy wingers. Brazilian prospect Kevin started in the win over Brighton, and has impressed with his dribbling and skill this season. He was replaced by Samuel Chukwueze, who scored the equaliser for Silva's side.
In deeper midfield, Sander Berge is having perhaps the best season of his career, with his excellent physicality and composure on the ball. He is often partnered with Alex Iwobi, who has moved deeper as his career has progressed.
At the back, there has been a lot of hype around left-back Antonee Robinson, who offers mobility both in defence and attack. Aside from him, they also have central defender Joachim Anderson, who scored against United when playing for Crystal Palace in 2024.
Finally, in goal, Bernd Leno has been nothing short of top class for Fulham since signing from Arsenal back in 2022. Although the West London side are a competitive outfit, they often rely on the German goalkeeper to win them more points nearly on his own.
Make no bones about it, this will be a very tough test for United. As touched on earlier, a very different test. How will they adapt to having the ball, and the onus being on them to take the game to their opponents? Let's see.
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