United’s doomed league campaign rolls on as we welcome Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
We’ve quietly put together a decent run of form with 5 wins in the last 6 games in all competitions, although that has been punctuated by some poor performances and that abysmal loss at home to Brighton, who got thrashed 7-0 by Nottingham Forest yesterday.
Palace sit just below us in the league with 2 points fewer, so a win for them would see them leapfrog us.
After an excellent second half performance against Steaua in midweek though, we should be looking to build on that and dispatch the Eagles convincingly.
Manchester United team news
After a professional performance – including a really encouraging second half in Bucharest, United are looking for our fourth straight win.
Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, and Manuel Ugarte were rested during the Romania trip, with Maguire and Ugarte being likely candidates to return to the starting XI. Andre Onana will probably replace cup goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
Ruben Amorim also has Amad and Alejandro Garnacho as options for the starting lineup after their impactful substitute appearances; they provided provided pace and incisiveness when introduced at halftime.
Luke Shaw continues his recovery at Carrington from a setback that has kept him out since early December. Amorim commented on Shaw’s situation:
It can take a little bit more time. I think he needs to train more, to spend more time with his team-mates playing even like normal, small-sided games, not just working alone. He stayed there [at Carrington] to make a different type of work, he’s going to get together with the team when we arrive and start from there. When I feel it is the right moment, we will start with some minutes in the games.
Shaw will remain sidelined for the weekend, along with Jonny Evans and Mason Mount.
Crystal Palace team news
Palace will be without key player Eberechi Eze for their trip to Old Trafford. Manager Oliver Glasner explained Eze’s absence:
We will also miss Eberechi on Sunday. He’s struggled the last weeks and months. He got a knock in the League Cup game [against Arsenal] at the Emirates and since then he’s always had pain, training and not training, playing and then taking him off… Last week he almost didn’t train the whole week, and this week it started again. We want to get him pain-free, so he can perform at his best level, so he won’t go with us to Manchester.
The Eagles recently signed Romain Esse, who scored on his debut against Brentford as a substitute and could play a more prominent role on Sunday.
Long-term absentees include Cheick Doucoure and Chadi Riad with knee injuries, while Joel Ward is also unavailable. However, both Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton have trained all week and should be available for the squad.
Predicted XI
Onana;
De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez;
Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot;
Amad, Mainoo;
Zirkzee.
Form Guide
Manchester United All Competitions Form:
W L W W W
Manchester United League Form:
L D W L W
Palace All Competitions Form:
D W W W L
Palace League Form:
W D W W L
Prediction
Palace are a a dangerous side that have the ability to produce big results. They’ve beaten Spurs, Villa and West Ham this season, and held the likes of Chelsea, Newcastle and City to draws. They also held us to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park earlier this season, and they beat us 4-0 the last time we played before that.
However, United have shown some good stuff in – albeit inconsistently – recently, and are in a decent run of form. If we play like we did against Steaua in the second half on Thursday we should have too much for Glasner’s men, but I wouldn’t count on a clean sheet.
Predicted score: Manchester United 3-2 Palace