Match Preview: Manchester United vs Crystal Palace

Manchester United host Crystal Palace as they gear up for their Premier League match at Old Trafford.

Manchester United come into the match on the back of an emphatic 4-1 win over CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League, when goals from Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealed a win for Jose Mourinho’s men. The win means they remain on top of Group A, three points ahead of both CSKA Moscow and FC Basel after just two group games. Their last action in the Premier League came last weekend when they defeated Southampton 1-0 away from home in a hard-fought match, when Romelu Lukaku’s sole goal gave United all three points. The win meant United remain second in the League standings, only trailing neighbours Manchester City on goal difference.

Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have had the worst possible start to their domestic campaign, having lost all of their first six matches and that too without scoring a single goal in the 540 minutes. They were upstaged by Manchester City 5-0 in the League last Saturday, with their players drawing another blank. They haven’t had an upturn in form even after Roy Hodgson’s appointment, and their only two wins this season have come in the EFL Cup. They’re unsurprisingly in the 20th place, with a goal difference of -13 after six match days.

Manchester United will be without long-term absentees Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo, while Paul Pogba’s injury has also been confirmed as a long-term one. Mourinho has ruled Carrick and Jones out of contention, but he is hopeful of Valencia being available for the match. No update has been provided on Marouane Fellaini.
The visitors also have a few injury problems, having lost James Tompkins, Christian Benteke and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to injury, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah will be ineligible to face his parent club. Wilfred Zaha, a former United player, is also expected to remain on the sidelines, but this match could mark a return of Freddie Ladapo.

Manchester United will be gunning for a consecutive fourth home victory and a fifth win in a row in all competitions, and will be the favourites to win all three points, and to remain top of the league with highest points. The visitors, on the other hand, will be satisfied with anything other than a defeat, but on their current form, it doesn’t look likely that they’ll be able to avoid a defeat. However, Roy Hodgson’s men could spring a surprise, and even though they look incapable of doing so, United should be vary of Palace’s possible danger. Being an optimistic United fan, I think this’ll be a walk in the park for United, and a cherry on the cake would be United firing four or maybe even five past the visitors.