Manchester United Vs. Crystal Palace PREVIEW

PREVIEW: Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace

DATE/KO: Saturday 19^th September 2020 (17:30)

VENUE: Old Trafford

COMPETITION: Premier League

CHANNEL: Sky Sports Main Event

Manchester United have had a summer full of activity just unfortunately not much of it being transfer related.

Our club captain has been arrested, our starlet youngster broke Covid rules and was subsequently removed from the England squad, our best midfielder contracted the virus and so on. There have been four days that United fans have celebrated since Sevilla, Donny Van de Beek signing, Alexis Sanchez leaving, Lionel Messi not joining City and Liverpool not winning the Community Shield.

But, the season is underway and Man United are starting from the pit lane after going deep in the Europa and we begin our campaign against Crystal Palace who of course beat us early last season and with a positive start for Hodgson’s men against Southampton last weekend, this may be no easy walk in the park.

Last Meeting

The last time the Eagles flew across our path was at the back end of last season post restart when Palace’s league status was safe while United’s Champions League hopes were anything but after a underwhelming 2-2 draw with Southampton.

Thankfully for the red side of Manchester, the team turned up after that disappointment and managed to beat Crystal Palace in front of an empty Selhurst Park, which usually provides a solid atmosphere.

The game was a classic post lockdown one with a slow and rough start but after a first half of frustration, Marcus Rashford grabbed a much-needed goal just before the break which was followed by a relaxing second by Anthony Martial.

Man United Team News

Apart from the much-welcomed Donny Van de Beek signing and the less appreciated Chris Smalling loan return and the exciting Dean Henderson situation, Man United are rolling with the same players as last season. In terms of injuries everyone is fit including Shaw, Pogba and Wan Bissaka but that is obviously excluding the injury bros Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones who have both just taken a mortgage out for United’s medical facilities. Harry Maguire has a get out of jail free card so is available to Palace and Greenwood will be all set after his slap on the wrist.

The predicted line-up is seen below:

Crystal Palace News

With Palace already playing a game, they have many more doubts for the game. Injuries for Christian Benteke, Conor Wickham, James Tomkins, Patrick Van Aanholt and Gary Cahill will cause problems for the experienced head of Roy Hodgson. Despite rumours, Zaha is still a Palace player for now and will relish a test against his former side.

The likely side is shown below:

Prediction

Predicting the first game of the season is always tough especially with the summer United have just had and the fact no fans will be there to watch but I will do what I have done this whole summer. Let my hopes get sky high before falling to the deepest depths of football depression. Pride comes before a fall and all that.

PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED 2-0 CRYSTAL PALACE

Leave your predictions in the comments below!