Joao Palhinha will miss Fulham’s trip to Manchester United on Saturday due to a yellow card he received over the weekend.
Ollie Watkins gave up two goals before halftime for Marco Silva’s team, and Rodrigo Muniz eventually pulled one back, but the result was a 2-1 loss at home against Aston Villa on Saturday. As the Cottagers pressed for an equalizer, Palhinha was booked for a late, careless challenge on John McGinn out of desperation to regain possession and launch an attack.
Palhinha will now serve a two-match punishment in line with Premier League regulations after receiving 10 yellow cards before Fulham’s 32nd game. The midfield player, who became the first Premier League player to reach the undesirable milestone this season, will now miss Fulham’s trip to Old Trafford on Saturday. In November, the midfielder missed Fulham’s victory over Wolves due to picking up five yellow cards.
Fulham, who have been greatly dependent on Palhinha’s defensive acumen as the midfield pillar, are severely harmed by the suspension.
With 105 tackles this season, the former target of Bayern Munich has made the most in the Premier League.
Harrison Reed, who has only started one Premier League game since the beginning of December,
and is a major step down in quality, will probably play for Silva in his absence.
The two teams meeting on Saturday at Old Trafford are going through extremely contrasting phases of their seasons.
Fulham have only won two of their previous nine games.
Throughout the campaign, Silva’s team has been dreadfully uneven, as demonstrated by a December in which they won five straight games before dropping three straight without netting a goal.
Prior to the beginning of the year, United’s season had been similarly erratic, but they had won six of their previous seven games—including their last five—across all competitions.
Rasmus Hojlund scored both goals in a 2-1 victory at Kenilworth Road on Sunday.
forcing Erik ten Hag’s team to battle for three points against Lincoln Town.
Later in the week, the United boss will face questions about injuries within his own team.
Luke Shaw, who was replaced on Sunday before halftime, is one player who may not be fully fit.
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