Lone gone are the days when pundits expected Manchester United to overturn their opponent comfortably on their home turf or away soil.
Already on the back of two defeats this Premier League campaign, Erik ten Hag enters tonight’s clash against Crystal Palace fully aware that anything other than three points would signal alarm bells for INEOS chiefs.
While he does have two wins under his belt thus far, they came against Fulham, who are 12th-placed, and Southampton, who have lost all four of their matches since returning to the top flight this season.
Palace have looked a shadow of the ever-threatening side we witnessed in May’s 4-0 thrashing at Selhurst Park, too, perhaps due to the absence of dynamic frontman Michael Olise. Oliver Glasner is yet to oversee his first win in 2024/2025, having drawn twice and lost twice.
Yet, Joe Cole is of the belief that Palace will get one over on the Red Devils tonight – and one man will be integral to Glasner’s game plan.
Cole expects United to suffer third loss at Selhurst
“It looks like this Crystal Palace team is all wrong for Man United at Selhurst Park,” the ex-Chelsea stalwart told PaddyPower, cited by the Metro.
“Consistency is the key for United, but I don’t know how they will get it together now. I watched them against Brighton when they were beaten 2-1 in injury time, and I saw them in the Southampton game when we covered it on TNT last week. There was a bit of everything we’ve seen from this Manchester United team before.
“They’ll slip up against Crystal Palace on the weekend. It’s a callous game for the United players. Palace have so much pace on the counter-attack. They are also at home, which is a notoriously tricky place to go. I fancy Eberechi Eze to dominate the game in midfield. Both teams will score, but I see 2-1 Palace as the final score.”
Eze, who was recently labelled an ‘unbelievable’ talent by his manager, has undoubtedly become his side’s talisman in Olise’s absence. He scored his first goal of the term in Palace’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea prior to the international break while notching two goals and an assist in 180 minutes worth of Carabao Cup action.
