Manchester United 1-3 Crystal Palace: 5 Talking Points as Red Devils crash to humbling defeat in season opener | Premier League 2020-21

3. Manchester United appeared sluggish in their season-opener

Victor Lindelof was among a number of Manchester United players who looked below-par.

Manchester United and Manchester City were absent from the first round of fixtures in the new Premier League season after being granted an extended leave of absence following their European exploits last season.

Despite that, the lack of pre-season preparation was clearly evident in the Manchester United ranks as the team were incredibly careless in possession and looked well off the pace right from the start. There were needless losses of possession and mistimed tackles galore from the men in red while their opponents looked in much better rhythm.

Manchester United would hope to find their form pretty quickly as the games come thick and fast this season.

4. Manchester United are in dire need of freshening up their squad

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) will surely be looking to strengthen his squad after a disappointing display.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the incomes of football clubs all over the world, the Premier League in particular has shown that there is a lot in its collective coffers still.

The likes of Chelsea, and more recently Liverpool, have made high-profile additions to their squad, but Manchester United have been conspicuous in their relative inactivity in the transfer market, though.

This summer, Dutchman Donny van de Beek has been the sole addition to the Manchester United squad that seemed physically drained towards the end of last season. The sloppy display against Crystal Palace further heightens the need for greater squad depth at Manchester United who run the risk of fatigue setting in even earlier this season should they fail to make some more new signings.

Hi everyone, Hope you're well.Just announcing @Donny_Beek6.Regards, @ManUtd. pic.twitter.com/Exq6b2M5jy

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 2, 2020

5. Donny van de Beek made an impressive debut

Donny Van de Beek marked his Manchester United debut with a fine goal.

The sole positive that Manchester United could take from their sorry display at home in their first game of the new Premier League season was the encouraging cameo put in by new signing Donny van de Beek who replaced Paul Pogba in the second half when the Red Devils were chasing the game.

The former Ajax midfielder didn’t take long to settle in and immediately got involved in Manchester United’s passing moves in and around the Palace penalty area.

Our Dutch international kept his cool to slot home and pull a goal back for United!Meanwhile, @IghaloJude has replaced @TFosuMensah.#MUFC #MUNCRY pic.twitter.com/JrG2xUUINU

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 19, 2020

Van de Beek then capped off his debut with a well-taken goal that briefly gave Manchester United hope of salvaging something from the game, but that was eventually not to be. The Dutchman's promising performance nevertheless gives Solskjaer the problem of figuring out how to deploy him, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes on the pitch at the same time.