Man Utd v Crystal Palace – Preview, Predictions, and Best Bets

Man Utd host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. The sides met in the Carabao Cup in midweek as United won 3-0 in a fixture between two heavily-rotated teams. They are separated by just one point in the table at this stage with the hosts losing three league matches already.

Man Utd Form

It’s been a bad start to the season for Man Utd. They’ve lost four of their eight matches in all competitions. A 1-0 win in round one against Wolves saw an alarming performance and they subsequently lost four of their next five matches. They were beaten 2-0 at Tottenham and 3-1 at Arsenal as they leaked two injury-time goals.

A humiliating 3-1 home defeat to Brighton followed. Erik Ten Hag’s side were then beaten 4-3 away by Bayern Munich in a reasonably good performance. Despite being outplayed in the first half, they netted in the 45th minute to win 1-0 at Burnley in their last match league. In midweek, Man Utd beat second-string Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Carabao Cup to boost confidence.

Man Utd Team News

United remains without Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw, and Tyrell Malacia in defence due to injury. Lisandro Martinez is doubtful so Victor Lindelof could partner Raphael Varane in preference to Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans. Antony and Jadon Sancho are suspended internally and will play no part.

Sergio Reguilon should shake off an illness to start and Sofyan Amrabat could make his first league start alongside Casemiro. Hannibal Mejbri excelled vs Burnley and may play as the number ten once again with Bruno Fernandes playing on the right flank.

Man Utd Motivation

Nothing less than a win will do in this match. Their last home league match saw a 3-1 loss to Brighton.

Ten Hag will set his side up to control the space defensively and try to score on transition. Any manner of victory will do right now.

Crystal Palace Form

The Eagles have been a mixed bag this season. Their eight matches have seen three wins, three losses, and two draws. They won 1-0 at Sheffield United on the opening day in a very dominant display. A loss to ten-man Arsenal and a 1-1 draw at Brentford followed. A strong 3-2 home win against Wolves followed with 16 shots and 2.11 xG.

Their next match saw a 3-1 loss at Aston Villa as they conceded twice in added time, including from a penalty. Up to those two late goals, they had limited their opponents to 1.78 xG and had seemingly ground out a point. A week ago, Palace drew 0-0 at home against Fulham in a bit of a stale affair. With eight players rested, they were beaten 3-0 by Man Utd in the League Cup on Tuesday.

Crystal Palace Team News

Roy Hodgson has quite a few injuries to deal with. Michael Olise remains absent for a while and both Jefferson Lerma and Odsonne Edouard are set to miss out after hamstring strains in the last few days. Matheus França is still making his way to fitness after a back injury.

Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze only featured as subs in midweek and both will return to the XI. Will Hughes is the favourite to replace Lerma in the engine room. Jeffrey Schlupp, Jordan Ayew, and Tyrick Mitchell were th

Crystal Palace Motivation

In midweek, it was clear that Palace were there in body but not in mind. Hodgson himself said that his squad is too thin to deal with the Carabao Cup.

The tame 3-0 in midweek will have little effect on this one. Motivation will be 100% for a league match at Old Trafford. The Eagles would be delighted with a draw and will look to be solid and break at pace.

Key Stats

Man Utd have won their last 4 home matches against Crystal Palace (all competitions)

Man Utd have lost 1 of their last 21 home league matches

Man Utd have kept 7 clean sheets in their last 11 home EPL fixtures

5 of the last 6 meetings between these sides have seen Over 2.5 goals

Crystal Palace’s last 4 away league matches have seen two draws (lost 1, won 1)

Palace have lost by 1 goal on their last two league trips to Old Trafford

Verdict

This looks likely to be a tight match. Man Utd have enough to win it could be a narrow margin of victory. I’m backing a home victory and also tipping the hosts to win by exactly one goal.