Friday 23 August 2019

Match preview: Man Utd v Crystal Palace

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts recently but I've been away in Snowdonia with a very iffy WiFi connection for the past week.
Anyway, back to the serious stuff. United enjoy the relative rarity of a Saturday 3pm kick off against a Crystal Palace side without a win over the Reds in the Premier League era.

United's Diogo Dalot has been ruled out until after the international break next month due to injury.
He joins fellow defenders and long-term absentees Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah on the sidelines.
Winless Crystal Palace remain without injured central defenders Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins.
As a result, summer signing Gary Cahill could make his debut for Roy Hodgson's side.

 Aaron Wan-Bissaka has settled in very well following his £50m summer move from Palace to United, and he could be in for a pretty quiet afternoon if the Eagles shoddy showing in Sheffield is anything to go by. The young full-back has really caught the eye with his pace, power and penetration down the right in the first few weeks of his United career.
You really struggle to see where the goals are going to come from for Roy Hodgson's side, and it already looks like being another tough season ahead for them.
In contrast, Anthony Martial has two in two since getting United's number nine shirt back, and appears to be growing into the role he began his Old Trafford career in.

 The Reds are unbeaten following our opening two fixtures and sit in fourth place in the Premier League table. Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James scored in an emphatic 4-0 victory against Frank Lampard's Chelsea at Old Trafford, while Martial was on the scoresheet again in our 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Palace began the new term with a goalless draw against 10-man Everton at Selhurst Park, before losing 1-0 to newly-promoted Sheffield United at Bramall Lane last week. These two results mean that Hodgson's side lie 14th in the fledgling table ahead of the third round of fixtures.

 Despite the improved Reds encouraging start to the season, with the team already four points better off than last season, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has stayed grounded.

 He said: "Every single Premier League game gives you a different challenge and, of course, Crystal Palace are a very well organised team.
"They've got pace up front for counter-attacks and they're strong on set-pieces. So we know we'll have to do all parts of the game well."

 The Eagles last won a league game at Old Trafford in December 1989 courtesy of a brace from Mark Bright in a 2-1 victory. They've failed to score in 11 of their subsequent 12 away league games at United, and earned a solitary point - the 0-0 result in last term's corresponding fixture.

Form guide Man Utd W D Crystal Palace D L
Match odds Man Utd 1/3 Draw 15/4 Crystal Palace 17/2
Referee: Paul Tierney (Wigan)
Predicted United XI: De Gea; Wan - Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba; James, Lingard, Rashford; Martial.






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