Crystal Palace will host Manchester United at their Selhurst Park Stadium tonight, July 16 at 8:15 PM (UK Time). This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. In their first meeting on August 24, 2019, the Eagles humbled United 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men would want to prevent being beaten by their tonight’s host home and away this season and Crystal Palace will want to end their 5 defeats on a row tonight. Hence, we should expect a box-to-box encounter between the two teams.
Team News: Crystal Palace
The manager of Crystal Palace Roy Hodgson will face Manchester United without two of his centre-backs Gary Cahill who is out with a hamstring injury and James Tomkins who is out with a thigh injury.
Christian Benteke will not be available as he is serving a 3-match ban after he received a red card in Crystal Palace’s match against Aston Villa on Thursday.
However, the manager will have the services of Jeffrey Schlupp to utilize. He has returned to training after recovering from hip injury.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Sakho, Dann, Van Aanholt; Milivojevic; Townsend, McCarthy, Kouyate, Zaha; Ayew
Team News: Manchester United
Manchester United‘s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not have Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones to select as they are still out with injuries. The fitness levels of Mason Greenwood, Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams are yet to be confirmed as at last check.
However, Solskjaer might stick with his first eleven but with one or two changes, according to what he said during the pre-match press conference.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; Fred, McTominay; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
Crystal Palace and Manchester United stats
- Crystal Palace failed to win Manchester United in 22 straight matches until August 2019 when they defeated the Red Devils 2-1.
- Manchester United has not tasted defeat in their last 11 away matches against Crystal Palace. They won 8 out of the 11 and drew two.
- If Crystal Palace win tonight’s match, it will make it the first time in history that the club would do a double on United.
- The manager of Crystal Palace Roy Hodgson has never lost 6 games in a row since 2008.
- Manchester United did not lose any match in their last five Premier League away games. They have won three out of the five and drew two.
- Since the Premier League returned from the coronavirus break in June, Manchester United have won all their three-midweek matches.
- United have won just one of their last five Premier League games in London, drawing one and losing three.
The possible outcomes
At the end of the match, if Manchester United win, they will have 62 points and move to the 4th spot if the current 4th placed Leicester City fail to win their own match. If they draw, they will either move to 4th or remain on the 5th depending on what would happen in Leicester City match as both teams are on 59 points.
As for Crystal Palace, a win will only make them finish the season stronger as they are comfortably sitting on the 14th spot with 42 points. As it stands, they can not drop to the relegation zone and they can not make it to the Europa spots (6 and 5 spots).
