On Saturday, from 17:30, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not accept wrong steps from his “devils”, in the championship match that Manchester United will play at Old Trafford, against Crystal Palace. It is the first game of the season for United, which was in the inaugural round.
These are all prerequisites for a good result for the hosts, who have an almost complete team, with the exception of Jones and Williams. Thus, Solskjaer will attack through the stars Rashford and Martial, knowing that Palace can be very dangerous on the road. The problem for Roy Hodgson’s team is the density of the group: the “eagles” have no less than 6 important players with medical problems: Benteke, Cahill, Ferguson, Tomkins, Wickham and Van Aanholt.
In the first stage of the new season, Crystal Palace beat Southampton at home (1-0), after a well-organized game, in which the red-blues were dominated by the “saints”. The guests failed to take advantage and sent only 5 sutures on the goal and executed 3 corners, a sign that the defense of the “eagles” knew exactly what the game plan has. Very strict in terms of offensive momentum, Crystal Palace left Old Trafford undefeated in the previous two visits, achieving a 0-0 and a shocking victory last season, score 2-1.
The victory was brought by the goals of Jordan Ayew (’32) and Patrick Van Anholt (’90 +3). And now, the Londoners will have experienced players on the field such as Townsend, McArthur, Schlupp, Zaha or Ayew, who will try to impose a slow pace. United then took their revenge away, winning 2-0 at Selhurst Park. For Manchester United, last season ended with a big disappointment at European level – the elimination from the UEL semifinals – but the “devils” got a place in the UEFA Champions League, thanks to a fabulous record in 2020. So morale is high in the camp of the favorites, who played only one friendly match this summer (0-1 at Aston Villa).
With the best “11” on the field, United will dominate the hostilities in front of Cyrstal Palace, the team that will be content to defend itself carefully throughout the game. For Wan-Bissaka, it will be an interesting goodbye with his former colleagues from Palace, with whom he played for two seasons.
In the last three decades, in 27 games, United have lost only once against Palace, and the tradition should continue this weekend. At the same time, United has the habit of starting the seasons well, currently having 5 consecutive successes in the inaugural rounds of the Premier League! We note that, last season, Palace managed only one victory in the 9 trips to the Top 10 teams, being vulnerable when playing away from London.
-United have not lost in the last 14 league matches and have not conceded 8 goals in 8 times;
-In the last 7 visits to Old Trafford, in the championship, Palace scored only two goals;
-Palace won only 5 trips during the previous season;
-In the last 4 matches of Palace, less than 3 goals were scored;
-There have been at least two goals scored in 9 of the last 10 direct duels of the two;
Manchester United: D. De Gea, H. Maguire, V. Lindelof, A. Wan Bissaka, L. Shaw, P. Pogba, N. Matic, B. Fernandes, M. Rashford, M. Greenwood, A. Martial
Coach: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Crystal Palace: V. Guaita, C. Kouyate, S. Dann, T. Mitchell, J. Ward, A. Townsend, J. McArthur, J. McCarthy, J. Schlupp, W. Zaha, J. Ayew
Coach: Roy Hodgson
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,64
