With Diogo Dalot out injured, Erik ten Hag had to tinker with his Manchester United squad against Fulham.
Ten Hag opted to select Tyrell Malacia at right-back with Luke Shaw at left-back. Many fans had suggested that Victor Lindelof would be played at right-back, with Harry Maguire in the middle, but Lindelof lined up alongside Lisandro Martinez in defence.
With Malacia playing out of position, it was never going to be the most comfortable game for the young Dutchman, and journalist Samuel Luckhurst claimed after less than ten minutes that it was becoming obvious that Fulham were targeting Malacia.
Fulham wasting little time in targeting Malacia, who's already communicated with Elanga and had Eriksen in his ear. Elanga might be running towards his own goal more than Fulham's. #mufc
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) November 13, 2022
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Fulham targeting Malacia, with the defender still very young and adapting to the Premier League whilst also playing in an unfamiliar position.
It shows immense faith in Malacia to play him out of position at right-back, especially with Maguire on the bench and Lindelof utilised in this position a fair amount over the last few years.
I’m sure Malacia won’t mind playing out of position if it means he’s starting after only making five Premier League starts prior to the Fulham game.