“We will see a very different side of them” – Mark Lawrenson makes confident claim while predicting winner of Crystal Palace vs Manchester United

Five-time English top-flight winner Mark Lawrenson has backed Manchester United to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 in their final league match of the season. The Red Devils travel to Selhurst Park to take on the Eagles in the Premier League on Sunday, May 22.

The match will be United's final contest under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who will be moving into a consultancy role. Incoming boss Erik ten Hag will attend his new club's match against Palace, as per reports from The Guardian and other media outlets.

Former Liverpool footballer Lawrenson believes ten Hag's presence could extract a reaction from Manchester United. The Red Devils suffered a harrowing 4-0 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion in their last match.

Lawrenson told the BBC:

"Incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will be at Selhurst Park to watch this game and his presence could bring a reaction from the United players. Something has to."

The Englishman went on to praise Palace, who have taken huge strides under Patrick Vieira's management. However, he believes the visitors will pick up a win in this match:

"Crystal Palace have had an excellent season, and the way they play is like a breath of fresh air but, with Ten Hag in the stands, you know United cannot just let their campaign peter out."

Lawrenson concluded:

"The United players are already playing for their places next season. I think we will see a very different side of them compared to the one that lost 4-0 to Brighton last time out."

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Manchester United and Crystal Palace have lost their most recent matches

Manchester United's last match came almost two weeks ago, on May 7 when they played Brighton away from home. Rangnick's men never looked up for the fight and shipped four goals while scoring none to suffer their third loss in six games.

Crystal Palace, on the other hand, will enter the fixture on Sunday having played only on Thursday (May 19) night. They took on Everton at Goodison Park and even raced to a 2-0 lead by half-time. However, the Toffees responded brilliantly in front of their home crowd to pick up a 3-2 win. The result put an end to Palace's four-match unbeaten run.

Sunday's Premier League encounter between United and the Eagles will be their second of the season. They met at Old Trafford in the league back on December 5 in what was notably Rangnick's first match in charge of the Red Devils. The hosts won that match 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Fred.