Preview: Could Mount & Hojlund made the squad against Palace? Rashford & Garnacho to keep their starting places?

Crystal Palace -v- Manchester United

Premier League

Selhurst Park, London

Saturday 21 September 2024, KO 17:30 BST

Manchester United return to Premier League action on Saturday evening as they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace. Having just beaten Barnsley 7-0 at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup, United will feel a lot more confident after a mixed start to the 2024/25 season.

United were boosted with braces from Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Christian Eriksen with Antony also scoring a penalty. It was what was needed from this team with many players who now find themselves on the fringes of the first team getting important minutes on the pitch.

United will need to start putting in the bright performances they are capable of against teams like Palace, which in turn will build up their confidence in their abilities to take on the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal – who are considered the main threats in the league at this time.

United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Barnsley 7-0 W, Southampton 3-0 W, Liverpool 3-0 L, Brighton 2-1 L, Fulham 1-0 W, City 1-1 (7-6) L

Goals: 4 – Alejandro Garnacho, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Christian Eriksen, 1 – Amad, Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee

Assists: 4 – Bruno Fernandes, 3 – Alejandro Garnacho, 1 – Amad, Diogo Dalot, Christian Eriksen, Noussair Mazraoui, Marcus Rashford

Palace – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

QPR 2-1 W, Leicester 2-2 D, Chelsea 1-1 D, Norwich 4-0 W, West Ham 2-0 L, Brentford 2-1 L

Goals: 4 – Jean-Philippe Mateta, 3 – Eberechi Eze, 1 – Daichi Kamada, Eddie Nketiah

Assists: 2 – Eberechi Eze, Daichi Kamada, 1 – Jean-Philippe Mateta, Tyrick Mitchell, Adam Wharton

Previous Meetings & Connections

United and Palace have met 30 times in the Premier League. United have won 19 times, drawn six times with Palace winning five times. United have scored 48 goals in these fixtures with Palace scoring 21 goals. United have won five penalties, scoring four with Palace winning one, scoring it.

United have kept 17 clean sheets against Palace with the London club keeping seven against United. United players have been shown 46 yellow cards in this fixture with Palace players shown 48 yellow cards. Both teams have been shown two red cards in these fixtures in the Premier League.

Wilfried Zaha, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fraizer Campbell and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have all played for United and Palace. Fosu-Mensah and Campbell were academy graduates at United. Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last signing for United and Wan-Bissaka left United this summer for West Ham.

Team News

United: United still have some major injury problems ahead of the clash with Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday. United have been boosted with the return to training of both Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount, but the duo might not be fit enough to take to the pitch on Saturday.

Ruled Out: Victor Lindelof (ankle/foot), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Leny Yoro (ankle/foot) and Luke Shaw (calf/shin/heel)

Suspended: None

Close to Returning: Mason Mount (thigh) and Rasmus Hojlund (thigh)

Palace: The London club have some injury problems ahead of the visit of United on Saturday, which could prove to be a problem for the home side. That said, Palace do have a squad of competent players who will be seeking to get another win over United in the Premier League at home.

Ruled Out: Chadi Riad (knee), Matheus França (chest/abdominal) and Rob Holding (other)

Suspended: None

Close to Returning: Trevoh Chalobah (chest/abdominal)

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

Onana;

Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot;

Ugarte, Mainoo;

Amad, Fernandes, Rashford;

Zirkzee

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

Henderson;

Clyne, Guéhi, Lacroix;

Muñoz, Wharton, Doucouré, Mitchell;

Nketiah, Eze;

Mateta

Match Prediction

United showed their brilliance in attack against Barnsley, which was a run out for the fringe players of the squad and also a major confidence boost which United must keep track of as they were playing a side in the third tier of English football – not a Champions League club.

But that said, the team got what they worked for and ended up scoring seven goals at a time where scoring goals was tricky for this club. United need to be going into matches in the same vein for the remainder of the season as if they work hard enough and create chances, they will score goals.

Palace will be a tricky encounter for United, especially after the last competitive match between the two clubs. The last encounter between the two side at Selhurst Park resulted in a 4-0 victory for Palace and it is United that will have to work much harder to turn that result around this season.

Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United

Written by Paul