Manchester United host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday, February 4 in a 3pm Premier League clash.
The Red Devils are looking to pick up their 13th consecutive home win when they take on the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
It’s been a week-and-a-half of cup action for United; they oversaw a 5-0 aggregate win across both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, as well as a 3-0 victory against Reading in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Their last action in the Premier League was the first time United had tasted defeat since November 6; they matched league leaders Arsenal stride for stride until the closing stages of the game when a late winner swung the game 3-2 in the Gunners’ favour.
Palace, on the other hand, are on the back of two consecutive draws, one of which came in the reverse fixture against the Reds on January 18.
Predicted Manchester United line-up:
De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Martinez, Varane, Shaw
No changes to the back four. Ten Hag took quite a risk midweek and opted to not rotate any of the defenders, so he won’t want to do it for a must-win league match.
Casemiro, Fred, Antony, Fernandes, Rashford
Whilst the manager can now deploy new recruit Marcel Sabitzer, I don’t think he’ll throw him straight into the action days after signing, especially as he has struggled for game time at Bayern Munich this season – starting just seven of the 18 Bundesliga games played. A late substitute is more likely, along with Jadon Sancho, as the 22-year-old is just returning to first-team action.
Martial
Wout Weghorst has looked promising but failed to find the back of the net against Forest on Wednesday, whereas Martial did. The Frenchman needs more minutes to try and find form and keep his fitness up. He’s also Ten Hag’s first-choice No.9, so I think he starts.
Spot on, I reckon. Martial is never short of critics, but his minutes per goal stat is really impressive this season. The trick has gotta be keeping him fit. Having Weghorst available on the bench allows EtH to manage the French minutes and hopefully keep him injury free.