Crystal Palace vs Manchester United Match Preview: Kick-off time, TV Channel, Team News and Score Prediction

Manchester United travel to South London to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park off the back of a thrilling derby day win.

Competition: Premier League
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick Off: 20:00 UK Time
TV Channel: Sky Sports

How do Manchester United look?

Erik ten Hag’s Reds have been in incredible form of late. United are unbeaten since coming back from the World Cup break and will be hoping to keep that streak for as long as possible. Their most recent performance was one of the best under Ten Hag to date and earned them a massive win over local rivals Manchester City. In the first half, United were excellent defensively. They did well to close down the options and stop Rodri, someone who Ten Hag identified as a key man, from progressing the ball often. Fred in particular did well keeping Kevin De Bruyne quiet and was a stand-out performer throughout the first half. City came out to play in the second half and really stepped their performance up for the first 15-20 minutes.

They did well to keep United in their own half and took the lead after De Bruyne managed to find space and deliver a cross towards the back post where Jack Grealish finished the chance. United replied with a controversial equaliser that saw Bruno Fernandes react first to a peculiar situation and net his third goal in the Premier League so far this season. None other than Marcus Rashford would wrap up the three points for the rampaging Reds after getting onto the end of a cutback from Alejandro Garnacho.

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New signing Wout Weghorst was in the stands to watch the Manchester derby on Saturday and could be available against Palace. Diogo Dalot is unlikely to be available for the game after suffering a muscle injury. Jadon Sancho has reportedly returned to team training this week but it is unlikely he will feature against Palace. Donny van de Beek is out for the rest of the season after picking up an injury in the game against Bournemouth.

Opposition: Crystal Palace

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Palace will be looking to turn their poor form around with a statement victory against United at home. The Eagles have suffered four losses in their last five games in all competitions and currently sit in 12^th place in the Premier League. Patrick Vieira’s side did beat United last time out, beating The Reds 1-0 in the final game of the Premier League season. United have grown a lot since then and Palace will need to perform a lot better than that if they want to get anything from the game.

One player United fans will be familiar with is Wilfried Zaha. The ex-United winger is Palace’s key player and has a good goalscoring record against his former side in recent times. Zaha is the top scorer for The Eagles in the league this season with six goals while also chipping in with two assists. The Ivorian will be a threat with his pace and trickery whether he starts on the left or upfront. Another threat for the home side will be Eberechi Eze. The midfielder has three goals and three assists so far this season and has been integral to all of Palace’s big performances this season. Eze’s ball-carrying and ability to pick a pass could cause problems to United’s defence on Wednesday.

Key facts

Wilfried Zaha has three goals in his last three appearances against Manchester United

Marcus Rashford has now scored in his last seven games in all competitions.

Prediction

Manchester United are in great form right now and don’t look like they will stop here. The team cohesion seems stronger than it has been in ages and new leaders seem to be emerging on the pitch every week. Carrying the momentum from the recent win over Manchester City, The Reds would expect to win at Selhurst Park especially considering the form Palace have been in. With that being said Palace have numerous quality players who could turn it on at any moment so United will have to be wary.

Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace.