Preview: Palace up next for United. Could Weghorst be unleashed in this match or will be play the waiting game?

Ten Hag will be seeking another victory for United to keep their season on track

Crystal Palace -v- Manchester United

Premier League

Selhurst Park, London

Wednesday 18 January 2023, KO 20:00 GMT

Manchester United will face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday evening – a match which was due to be played back in September but it was postponed because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. United were set to have just over a week off before this match was scheduled in by the Premier League. It will now be the halfway point of the season in the Premier League for both clubs. United have added three more fixtures to their season in the past week.

Erik ten Hag’s side beat Manchester City 2-1 in the second Manchester derby of the season, which kept the spirits high after a good run of form in all competitions since the resumption of the season following the FIFA World Cup. United will face Arsenal on Sunday in the Premier League – still being the only team to have beat the Premier League leaders this season. Palace will be seeking to better their league position knowing they beat United last season.

Palace were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea on Sunday, which gives them one win in their last six matches and with United’s form much better than theirs, it puts United in contention for another victory at Selhurst Park. Of course, Palace could make this match difficult for United but with 11 goals conceded in their last six matches in all competitions and the fact United have scored 15, conceding just three, it makes it even worse for Palace.

Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Manchester City 2-1 W, Charlton Athletic 3-0 W, Everton 3-1 W, Bournemouth 3-0 W, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 W, Nottingham Forest 3-0 W

Goals: 16 – Marcus Rashford, 5 – Anthony Martial, Antony, 4 – Bruno Fernandes, 3 – Own Goal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, 2 – Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Fred, Alejandro Garnacho, Scott McTominay, 1 – Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw

Assists: 8 – Christian Eriksen, 5 – Marcus Rashford, 4 – Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, 2 – Anthony Martial, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luke Shaw, 1 – Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Scott McTominay, Facundo Pellistri, Jadon Sancho, Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Crystal Palace – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Chelsea 1-0 L, Southampton 2-1 L, Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 L, Bournemouth 2-0 W, Fulham 3-0 L, Nottingham Forest 1-0 L

Goals: 6 – Wilfried Zaha, 5 – Odsonne Édouard, 3 – Eberechi Eze, 1 – Joachim Andersen, Jordan Ayew, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Luka Milivojevic, Michael Olise

Assists: 4 – Michael Olise, 3 – Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha, 2 – Odsonne Édouard, Tyrick Mitchell, 1 – Jordan Ayew, Cheick Oumar Doucouré, Jeffrey Schlupp

Previous Meetings & Connections

United and Palace have met 26 times in the Premier League with United winning 18 matches, drawing five matches and Palace winning three. United have scored 45 goals, winning four penalties, scoring three. Palace have scored 14 goals, winning one penalty, scoring it. United have won their last ten matches at Old Trafford and are undefeated in their last 12. Away from home, United have won the last two matches so need to make a run of it.

United have kept 17 clean sheets with Palace keeping five. Discipline has been an issue in this fixture with United players shown 39 yellow cards and one red card and Palace players shown 42 yellow cards and two red cards. Palace beat United in this fixture at the end of last season, which was unfortunate for United but it saw the Ralf Rangnick era, albeit only temporary, end. United are a much better team this season and the progress is there for all to see.

Wilfried Zaha, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fraizer Campbell and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have all played for United and Palace. Schlupp was once on trial at United. Campbell and Fosu-Mensah came through United’s academy. Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson’s final signing as manager of the club and he ended up making just four appearances, failing to score a single goal, returning to Palace 18 months later. Wan-Bissaka was purchased from Palace in the summer of 2019.

Team News

Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot, Jadon Sancho and Donny van de Beek are the only players to be ruled out for the visit to Selhurst Park to take on Palace on Wednesday evening. Marcus Rashford has a 75% chance of being involved after his injury scare in the first half tof the Manchester derby on Saturday and Anthony Martial came off at half time, so could be a doubt himself with his injury record this season. Fred and Casemiro are both a booking away from being suspended.

Sacrificing one of both of the midfielders in this match would be good for United as Casemiro will definitely be needed against Arsenal, which will be the 20th match of the Premier League season when the booking record is scrubbed for those nearly on five bookings in the first 19 matches. Ten yellow cards before the 32nd match of the season will result in a two-match suspension. Wout Weghorst could make his debut. Jack Butland is not eligible to face his parent club.

Nathan Ferguson and James McArthur are the only two Palace players to be ruled out for the clash with United, which was originally scheduled for September. Joachim Andersen is currently being assessed and has a 25% chance of featuring against United on Wednesday. Joel Ward and Jeffrey Schlupp have the same problem as Fred and Casemiro – another booking and they will miss the clash with Newcastle United on Saturday evening.

Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1

De Gea;

Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw;

Casemiro, Eriksen;

Antony, Fernandes, Rashford;

Weghorst

Predicted Crystal Palace Starting XI – 4-2-3-1

Guaita;

Clyne, Tomkins, Guéhi, Mitchell;

Doucouré, Schlupp;

Ayew, Olise, Eze;

Zaha

Match Prediction

United and Palace have met a total of 61 times in all competitions with United winning 39 times, drawing 12 times and losing ten times. The last defeat came in their last match, this fixture at Selhurst Park at the end of last season. United are a completely different team this season though and have some excellent form to take to Palace. United have won their last nine matches in all competitions, scoring 23 goals, conceding five goals – keeping five clean sheets.

Palace are not in the best of form this season, winning once in their last six matches, losing five of them. Palace sit 12th in the Premier League after 18 matches being played this season with just 22 points putting them seven points from the relegation zone, which is all very much possible for them this season. There are far worse teams in the Premier League than Palace this season though, which might benefit them which is what Patrick Vieira hopes.

Over the past three seasons, United have beaten Palace just twice, drawing once and losing three times – two of those defeats were played at Old Trafford. Under Tan Hag, it could well be a different story for United against Palace with them seeking to eradicate the lead that Arsenal have at this stage of the season. After beating Manchester City on Saturday, United moved into the top three of the Premier League, which was not foreseen at the start of the season.

Crystal Palace 0-3 Manchester United

Written by John Walker

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.