Manchester United dropped to fifth after the draw with Liverpool and with Chelsea holding a game in hand, The Red Devils know they can’t afford to drop more points and will head to this game feeling it is a winnable clash. However, United need to be aware that they are facing a side that scored thrice against Liverpool, beat Tottenham Hotspur and also picked a win at Manchester City this season. Palace have earned the giant killers’ tag this season, even though they have struggled a bit. Palace are unbeaten in their last six matches, winning four of these and with three clean sheets therein. Under Solskjaer, United have really improved and are currently on just one loss in their last 14 matches while four of their last five have produced clean sheets. They are unbeaten in the last 10 Premier League matches and have straight wins in their last five away league matches, with four straight clean sheets. Palace have three wins in their last seven league games at home. For United, the biggest worry ahead of this clash will be the absence of midfielders Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard but being unbeaten in the last 12 matches against Palace, they will have the right confidence to tackle their hosts. In 40 meetings between the two, Palace have managed just six wins and United 26.
An ideal opportunity to manifest doublers. And very high odds, even despite injuries in the start lineup. Ordinarily I would be backing United to the hilt here with a full strength side. United have won four of five away trips to sides around Palace averaging over 2.60 goals per game, conceding just 0.60. Palace have lost all four home fixtures against sides in the top six and have struggled to score at home all season. I still feel Man United have enough quality to win this fixture even with injuries.
United's injury problems from their draw with Liverpool weekend are going to affect the team that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can put out in this one. He dealt very well with what happened, but the game itself was very poor and Liverpool did not pose much of a threat. I just have a feeling that Palace will be different, and that they are going to surprise people here. They are playing well and they going to go for it attack-wise too. Michy Batshuayi is up and running after scoring against Leicester on Saturday, Wilfried Zaha is back from suspension, and I think they will cause United problems.
Crystal Palace are playing arguably their best football of the season going on an unbeaten run of 6 games with 4 wins. They beat Leicester City 1-4 away from home at the weekend. In that their present unbeaten run is a 2-0 home win over Tottenham. They are much capable of beating Manchester United.
Manchester United dropped to fifth after the draw with Liverpool and with Chelsea holding a game in hand, The Red Devils know they can’t afford to drop more points and will head to this game feeling it is a winnable clash. However, United need to be aware that they are facing a side that scored thrice against Liverpool, beat Tottenham Hotspur and also picked a win at Manchester City this season. Palace have earned the giant killers’ tag this season, even though they have struggled a bit. Palace are unbeaten in their last six matches, winning four of these and with three clean sheets therein. Under Solskjaer, United have really improved and are currently on just one loss in their last 14 matches while four of their last five have produced clean sheets. They are unbeaten in the last 10 Premier League matches and have straight wins in their last five away league matches, with four straight clean sheets. Palace have three wins in their last seven league games at home. For United, the biggest worry ahead of this clash will be the absence of midfielders Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard but being unbeaten in the last 12 matches against Palace, they will have the right confidence to tackle their hosts. In 40 meetings between the two, Palace have managed just six wins and United 26.