Two Nigerians, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey, are expected to be in action as Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday, in the curtain raiser for the 2024-25 Premier League season.
The last time the two teams met at Old Trafford, Fulham claimed a famous 2-1 win over the Red Devils in the latter part of the 2023-24 Premier League season, with the two Nigerian stars on the score sheet for the Cottagers.
Kicking off the @premierleague season! 🤍 pic.twitter.com/WjoH6uCZwJ
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 16, 2024
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey opened the scoring in the 67th minute with a thunderous right-footed strike into the roof of the net, beating Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana in goal for United.
Harry Maguire drew Erik Ten Hag’s men level in the 89th minute, but Alex Iwobi’s 97th minute dagger sealed the win for Fulham, who claimed their first away win against United in all competitions since the 2003 season.
However, since their last meeting in February, a lot has changed for both teams, with both departures and arrivals in the ongoing summer transfer window.
Although United have lost big names like Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial, Donny Van de Beek, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the 13-time Premier League winners have also brought in four new signings in Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, and Noussair Mazraoui, with more still expected to join before the end of the window.
For Fulham, Marco Silva’s men will be without combative midfielder Joao Palhinha, who secured a big money move to Bayern Munich. They, however, have three new players on their books with the acquisition of Emile Smith-Rowe from Arsenal for a club-record fee of £34 million, as well as Jorge Cuenca and Ryan Sessegnon.
The Calvin Bassey & Alex Show. 📺 pic.twitter.com/hII1VPm1tg
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 15, 2024
Iwobi and Bassey were actively involved in Fulham’s pre-season, securing two wins from their three warm-up matches. The Nigerian duo is therefore expected to pick up from where they stopped last season, particularly starting with a fixture they both hugged the headlines in barely six months ago.
With the Super Eagles set to return to action in September for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic, Rwanda’s Amavubi, Iwobi, and Bassey are presented with a perfect opportunity to begin their season on a front foot and also maintain a good shape ahead of national team duties.
