Manchester United vs Crystal Palace: Live streaming info, team news, match predictions, squad, date and time

Crystal Palace follow up their impressive draw at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United this Wednesday.

The point against Arsenal all but secured Alan Pardew’s side’s survival, but for United it is a massive opportunity to cut down the gap between themselves and the top four with a victory in midweek.

With both sides looking forward to FA Cup semi-finals over the weekend, the managers are set to tweak their sides in order to find the correct balance and keep the energy levels high when Wembley beckons. Can Louis van Gaal follow up his side’s narrow win over relegated Aston Villa with a much more convincing performance against the Eagles?

Kick-Off and Live Telecast

Channel : StarSports 1, StarSports HD 1

Live Stream : www.starsports.com

Date : Thursday, 21 April – 00.30 IST (Wednesday, 20.00 BST)

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

Team News

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal could recall Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard after they were benched in the victory over Aston Villa. Luke Shaw is still around a week away from match-fitness, but Bastian Schweinsteiger has been ruled out of the season.

Crystal Palace will travel to Old Trafford without Yannick Bolasie, Scott Dann, Joe Ledley and Joel Ward due to injuries. James McArthur is set to return from an ankle ligament injury.

Team Form

Manchester United produced yet another uninspiring performance in a scrappy victory over Aston Villa – who fought a lost battle to delay their inevitable relegation. The fact that Villa nearly equalised following the introduction of the powerful Rudy Gestede will be a worrying sign – something Louis van Gaal would have definitely addressed on the training ground.

Their failure to blow teams away despite bucketloads of possession has also been a major issue – some of that is down to the defensive nature of Louis van Gaal’s system.

With some of their regular starting members set to return to the line-up, can United finish off Crystal Palace earlier than expected so that they can see the game out in the later stages?

Last 5 games (All competitions) : W-W-L-W-W (Most recent – Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa)

Crystal Palace responded to their horrible slump since the beginning of 2016 with a decent run of 4 games unbeaten – the latest being an impressive 1-1 draw at Arsenal, where they were rewarded for digging in and successfully weathering the Gunners’ pressure in the attacking third.

Yannick Bolasie – who won’t feature against United – scored past Petr Cech to give Palace a deserved point. Can the Eagles back that performance up with another similarly disciplined display in a bid to accumulate a few more points before the season comes to its conclusion?

Last 5 games (All competitions) : D-D-W-D-L (Most recent – Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace)

Predicted Starting Line-Up

Key Stats

1. Manchester United have won their last eight league games against Palace at Old Trafford.
2. They are yet to lose to the Eagles in the Premier League (W10, D3)
3. United have won 5 successive games at Old Trafford.
4. They have kept a league-high 16 clean sheets this season and have conceded just 7 goals in 16 games at Old Trafford.
5. Marcus Rashford has scored 7 goals in 12 appearances for Manchester United (all competitions)
6. The Eagles are yet to win away from home in 2016 – last winning on their travels at Stoke on 19 December 2015.
7. They are unbeaten in 4 games but have won only one of them.
8. Each of Emmanuel Adebayor’s three goals against United has been scored at Old Trafford.

Key Battle

Marcus Rashford vs Adrian Mariappa

With Scott Dann missing out on this game for precautionary reasons, Adrian Mariappa is set to replace him at centre-back. The 29-year-old – who will feature only for the second time for the Eagles this season – has his task cut out as he looks to match 18-year-old Manchester United sensation Marcus Rashford for pace.

Rashford’s ability to get into great goal-scoring opportunities with such ease is unreal for a player of his age and experience. Whether he can put Mariappa under the pressure cooker through the course of the game is what we will learn on Wednesday night.

Prediction

Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace

Louis van Gaal’s decision to pick a strong squad despite the FA Cup semi-final and Palace’s shortage of regular first-team players hinges one towards a routine Manchester United victory with a clean sheet at Old Trafford.