Crystal Palace will play hosts to Manchester United at Selhurst Park on Thursday evening hoping to put an end to their miserable five-game losing run in the Premier League. The Eagles suffered yet another defeat last weekend at the hands of Aston Villa, so Roy Hodgson would hope that his players can produce a much-improved showing versus the Red Devils tomorrow. On the other side, the Mancunian giants are flying high since the return of Premier League football, having won their previous two away encounters by a 3-0 scoreline.
Talking Tactics
Palace boss Hodgson is expected to opt for a 4-3-3 formation. He will instruct his men to defend in numbers and expose Man United’s defensive weaknesses on the counter using the pace of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will once again lineup his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation and could ask his players to dominate the ball in midfield so that the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes can orchestrate some clear-cut chances to score in the final third.
Team News
Crystal Palace
Hodgson has no fresh injury concerns to cope with ahead of this midweek clash versus the Red Devils. However, Christian Benteke will be unavailable for this game after being given his marching orders for violent conduct in last weekend’s loss to the Villans.
Crystal Palace Predicted XI
Guaita, Ward, Dann, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Riedewald, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Ayew, Zaha
Manchester United
Both Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams are significant concerns for this contest. Also, Axel Tuanzebe will definitely miss out due to unspecified injuries.
Manchester United Predicted XI
De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Dalot, Pogba, Matic, Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial
Key Men
Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha will once again be Palace’s main man in the attacking third. He will carry most of the creative and goal-scoring burden up top. The Ivorian attacker will be desperate to do well against his old club and might turn out to be a significant threat on the break.
Mamadou Sakho has often been guilty of making some poor defensive errors at the back in recent weeks. The Frenchman will have to be more careful when defending inside his own box as his overall performance could very well end up determining whether the Eagles can get anything out of this game in midweek.
Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes is expected to produce another dazzling display from the number ten position. At the same time, the trio of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood will be responsible for doing most of the damage up top. Paul Pogba is gradually getting back to his best, so he might fancy getting his name on the scoresheet when he laces up to face the Eagles tomorrow evening.
Odds
The bookmakers have made the Red Devils the heavy favourites to emerge victorious at Selhurst Park after they were priced at 3/10. The draw has been listed as 9/2 while Roy Hodgson’s men are 19/2 underdogs to pull off an upset on Thursday.
