Scene-setter: The race for the Barclays Premier
League top four is heading towards its climax and Manchester United are
four points away from those UEFA Champions League qualification places,
with just five games left to play. Victory against Crystal Palace is
required and would also boost Louis van Gaal's men ahead of Saturday's
Emirates FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, although the Eagles will be
motivated opponents because they are yet to cement their top-flight
status.
Form guide: United bounced back from the
3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur by securing a morale-boosting
2-1 win at West Ham in the FA Cup sixth round, before following that up with a gritty
1-0 win over Aston Villa.
The Reds have notably not lost any of the 13 previous Premier League
matches against Palace, earning 10 wins and three draws in a run that
stretches back to September 1992. Despite being 16th in the table, Alan
Pardew’s team are unbeaten in four straight matches in April. However,
their recent 1-0 win against Norwich City remains their only top-flight
victory in 2016.
Last meeting: Back on 31 October, Crystal Palace held United to a frustrating
0-0 draw
and that was the Reds' third consecutive goalless match in all
competitions. “We did not keep the ball,” said van Gaal. “That's a very
important factor and because of that we didn't create too many chances.”
Latest team news:
Van Gaal made changes for the win over Villa by resting Anthony Martial
and Jesse Lingard, with Wayne Rooney and Memphis coming in, so it will
be interesting to see which of those four will start on Wednesday night.
The boss may also be tempted to rotate again, with the FA Cup
semi-final against Everton just four days away. Luke Shaw, Adnan
Januzaj, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Will Keane could be the only
absentees. Palace have injury concerns over Scott Dann, Dwight Gayle,
James McArthur, Brede Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh, James McArthur and
Kwesi Appiah.
View from the dressing room: “We
now have Crystal Palace where hopefully we can win again and then we
have the semi-final in the FA Cup. That gives us two very clear aims -
to win, if we can, every game in the Premier League to get Champions
League football, and then to win the FA Cup, which the club has not won
for a few years. We are fully focused on both tasks.” –
Juan Mata
Opposition manager: Palace
boss Alan Pardew hopes his team's troubles are behind them following a
run of positive results, though he would like to pick up more wins in
2016. “We weren't expecting that run [of defeats] to go on as long as it
went on,” he explained earlier this month. “The first half of this
season we got it right, but the second we haven't. We need to address
that. The confidence levels, hopefully, have gone up, and our
nervousness has disappeared.”
Danger man: Things
didn’t work out for Wilfried Zaha at United but the 23-year-old has
impressed since rejoining Palace. A creator of goals, he has also scored
five himself in 40 appearances across all competitions and Chris
Smalling admits he is expecting a tricky game against his old team-mate.
“Crystal Palace are known for having direct and pacey wingers who like
to put a lot of balls into the box,” he explained to
MUTV
ahead of the game. “They play exactly to Wilf’s strengths and he's been
able to play in every game. He didn't get that with us but at Palace
he's been able to show his ability, week in and week out, in the Premier
League.”
Betting: Official partner
Marathonbet
has priced United as clear favourites to win at odds of 14/15, with
Palace at 33/10 and the draw at 61/10. You can also back young Marcus
Rashford to score the first or last goal at 39/10.
Visit their website via manutd.com/bet for more odds and offers.
Referee: Lancashire-based
official Lee Mason will take charge of Wednesday's game at Old
Trafford. It will be his 29th match of the season and United fans may
remember him from the Capital One Cup clash with Middlesbrough. In
total, he has dished out 79 yellow cards and three red cards this term.
