Well here we are, the final game of the season. And what an awful season it has been. Ralf Rangnick takes charge of his final game as the Red Devils travel down to Selhurst Park. Let’s have a look at what we could expect to see as a season to forget comes to a close.
Opposition
The Eagles come into this game off the back of a very disappointing loss to no longer relegation-threatened Everton. Overall they have had a good season. Patrick Vieira has them playing a very good brand of football and has been getting a strong tune out of some younger players. With 45 points, gained from 10 wins, 15 draws and 12 losses, Palace will most likely finish the season solidly in the middle of the table.
I would imagine that Vieira sticks with the 4-3-3 formation starting with Jack Butland in goal. Moving forward, I would expect a central defensive partnership of Andersen and Guéhi. With Mitchell and Clyne operating as fullbacks. A midfield that will most likely be comprised of Schlupp, Milivojevic and Gallagher. And then a front three that will no doubt feature Zaha, Ayew and Mateta.
Manchester United
This really has been a dreadful season for Manchester United. When our two closest and biggest rivals are fighting for the league title till the last day of the season, we are here struggling to stay in a Europa League spot. After embarrassingly losing 4-0 to Brighton last time out, Manchester United need a win here. I don’t think any of us fans want to see this great club play in the Europa Conference League. At least with the Europa League there are still some good European teams in the competition. And the level we are playing at, it might actually be something we could challenge for next season.
Lineup
With that in mind here is how I would expect to see Ralf Rangnick line the Red Devils up for his last game in charge. No doubt he will stick with the 4-3-3 formation, beginning with David de Gea in goal. At centre-back I would expect to see Raphael Varane partnering Victor Lindelof. Alex Telles will no doubt return at left-back, although Luke Shaw returned to training this week he will no doubt start from the bench. Aaron Wan-Bissaka could return at right-back to play against his former club.
In the midfield I would imagine that Matic starts for the final time in his Manchester United career. Alongside him we could see Fred and Bruno Fernandes. As for the front three, I would expect Anthony Elanga to start on the wing. We could see the return of Jadon Sancho after he missed the last game due to an illness. And then up top it is of course going to be Cristiano Ronaldo.
Predictions
It’s actually been quite easy to predict how this United team have played lately. Terrible! It would be highly indicative of the season we have been having for United to not get the win here. If that were the case and West Ham got something over Brighton then we would finish in those dreaded Europa Conference spots. Hopefully it won’t come to that. So I am going for a rather hopeful 2-1 United win.