Crystal Palace vs Manchester United preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Manchester United will make the trip to South London to face Crystal Palace on Monday night, as they look to tighten their grip on a European spot against an inform Palace side. 

United have endured a difficult season that have seen them crash out of the UEFA Champions League group stage, where they finished bottom of group A, as well as completely missing out on a spot in next season’s Champions League campaign.

They’re now in a tightknit battle to secure a spot in Europe as they currently occupy sixth spot on 54 points, only one point above Newcastle United in seventh and three points above Chelsea in eighth.

Their results for the remainder of the season will be consequential for their European aspirations and they’re gearing up to face a stern test against a rejuvenated Palace side, who have won three of their last four matches in the Premier League.

United’s European hopes took a further blow when they played out a 1:1 draw against Burnley at Old Trafford last weekend.

Despite having more goal attempts, Burnley were the dominant side and were unlucky not to take the lead following heroic saves from André Onana.

After a flurry of missed chances, Antony gave the Red Devils the lead late in the second half with his first goal for United since April 2023, before a blunder at the back from Onana gifted a penalty to Burnley which Zeki Amdouni dispatched to tie the game level.

Erik Ten Hag will hope to lead United to their first win at Selhurst Park side the 2:0 win in 2020 under the tutelage of former head coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

For the home side, the appointment of Oliver Glasner has turned the tides at the club from a relegation-threatened team to sitting comfortably in 14th place with confirmation of safety from relegation.

Since recording back-to-back losses against Bournemouth and Manchester City, the Eagles have gone four games unbeaten– securing wins against Liverpool, West Ham, Newcastle and a draw against Fulham in their last Premier League outing.

The Eagles travelled to West London to face Fulham at Craven Cottage in their final London Derby of the season. Rodrigo Muniz gave Marco Silva’s side the lead before an 87th-minute screamer from Jeffrey Schlupp levelled the scoring for Palace.

They now gear up to face United and will aim for their first-ever League double over Manchester United when they meet on Monday. Fans with Crystal Palace tickets will be quietly confident of securing a positive result against the Red Devils.

Crystal Palace Vs Manchester United match details

• Date: Monday, 6 May, 2024
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Selhurst Park
• Kick-off time: 8: PM BST, 7:00 PM UTC
• Referee: Jarred Gillett
•  Assistant referees Lee Betts, Neil Davies
• Fourth official: Graham Scott
• VAR: Tony Harrington
•  Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis

Match stats and head-to-head

• These two sides have met 65 times with the Red Devils holding the superior advantage with 41 wins while Palace have recorded only 11 wins and 13 matches have ended in a draw.

• Palace are unbeaten in their last three home matches against the Red Devils and are looking to record their first-ever League double over United on Monday having won the first leg 1:0.

• United are without a clean sheet in their last nine away matches in the Premier League.

• The south London side are unbeaten in their last four matches in the Premier League, their longest unbeaten run since the beginning of the season.

• Glasner’s side need just one goal to equal their all-time Premier League goal reached at home having scored 29 goals in the 2017-18 season.

• The Eagles have recorded just one win from their last 12 matches played on a Monday.

• Jean-Philippe Mateta has netted in all five Premier League matches at Selhurst Park since Glasner was appointed.

• Ten Hag’s side have conceded 77 goals in 47 matches across all competitions this season, their most since the 1977-78 season.

• A loss to Palace would mean that United have lost five Premier League away matches to London sides this season, having recorded losses against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham and Chelsea.

• United have both scored and conceded in their last eight away matches in the Premier League, the most since a run of nine consecutive matches between May and November 2001.

Team news 

In a major score for Ten Hag’s side, Bruno Fernandes is a doubt for this match and will undergo a fitness test to determine his availability for the match.

After being ruled out for a couple of weeks, Mason Mount returned to United’s squad that faced Burnley last weekend and will be available for selection.

Raphael Varane remains sidelined with a muscle injury and it remains to be seen if the 31-year-old will recover in time to feature in United’s remaining matches.

Victor Lindelof is nursing a hamstring injury he picked up in the clash against Brentford last March while Marcus Rashford will miss this match after picking up an injury in the FA Cup semi-final clash against Coventry City.

Jonny Evans returned to training last week but it is not clear if the Northern Ireland captain will be match-ready for the trip to Selhurst Park.

Anthony Martial was also reported to take part in training last week but the Frenchman will undergo an assessment to determine his availability for the game.

Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia are ruled out with calf and knee injuries respectively.

Luke Shaw remains sidelined with a muscle injury while youngster, Willy Kambwala, is ruled out with an injury that has kept him out of United’s last three matches.

For the home side, Eberechi Eze is in contention to feature in this match after being dropped from the squad that faced Fulham last weekend with a knock. The decision to drop the midfielder is believed to be precautionary and is tipped to take part against United.

In another boost for Glasner’s side, club-captain, Marc Guehi, has returned from injury and could make his first appearance in two months.

Jefferson Lerma is nearing a return from a hamstring injury while Joel Ward has fully recovered in recent weeks and should be in contention for a place in the starting lineup on Monday.

Cheick Doucoure is also nearing a return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has kept him out for most parts of the season while Rob Holding and Sam Johnstone remain sidelined for the Eagles.

Predicted starting lineup

Crystal Palace predicted starting lineup:

Henderson; Ward, Andersen, Richards; Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Olise, Ayew; Mateta.

Manchester United predicted starting lineup:

Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Maguire, Dalot; Mainoo, McTominay; Amad, Mount, Garnacho; Hojlund.

Prediction

United have shown inconsistency in performance this season, becoming second-best in most of their clashes this season.

However, Ten Hag’s side have a knack for grinding out results or at least avoiding defeats having lost only one of their last nine matches across all competitions.

Palace, on the other hand, have proven their ability in all phases of the game, from sitting in a compact block to playing on the counter like they did against Liverpool, or dominating and creating an array of chances like they did against West Ham.

While their approach for the game against United is unclear, it is certain this clash will produce goals.

We’re predicting a 2:2 draw.