Bernd Leno is relishing the opportunity to get the new season under way with an exciting trip to Manchester United.
We’ll kick off the 33rd Premier League season against the 13 time champions on Friday night, and while Leno expects a tough curtain raiser, he insists Fulham will tackle it head on.
“It’s a very special game,” he said. “The whole world will be watching. Old Trafford, special stadium, a big game for us, but we go there to play our game, and I think it’s a dream for every footballer to be on that stage.
“The quality they have is exceptional. I think you saw that in the FA Cup Final that they won against [Manchester] City. City is probably the best team in the world, so they are capable of beating everyone, so we have to expect a very strong team.
“Of course, they will want to win the first game at Old Trafford and start the campaign in a good way. But we will prepare our game as well and try to get something from there.”
Without revealing what they were in his pre-match press conference, Marco Silva confirmed that targets had been set for the team going into 2024/25.
And Leno believes the best way to go about achieving those objectives is by focusing purely on whatever the next match is.
“I think, at the beginning, our target is to go game by game, and then let’s see where we get,” he explained.
“When you see the last two years and how we played and how we built the team, how we built the structure of the team, I think if we go to the top 10 then that’s a fantastic season for us.
“But the Premier League is very tough, so we go game by game, and then let’s see where we are after 18, 19 games, and then maybe you can say ok we’re struggling or we’re doing really well, and then you can adjust your targets.
“But, as I said, at the beginning we go game by game.”
