PREVIEW: UNITED V CRYSTAL PALACE
Scene-setter : The race for the Barclays Premier League top four is heading towards its climax and Manchester United are four points away from those UEFA Champions League qualification places, with just five games left to play. Victory against Crystal Palace is required and would also boost Louis van Gaal's men ahead of Saturday's Emirates FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, although the Eagles will be motivated opponents because they are yet to cement their top-flight status.
Form guide : United bounced back from the 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur by securing a morale-boosting 2-1 win at West Ham in the FA Cup sixth round, before following that up with a gritty 1-0 win over Aston Villa . The Reds have notably not lost any of the 13 previous Premier League matches against Palace, earning 10 wins and three draws in a run that stretches back to September 1992. Despite being 16th in the table, Alan Pardew’s team are unbeaten in four straight matches in April. However, their recent 1-0 win against Norwich City remains their only top-flight victory in 2016.
Last meeting : Back on 31 October, Crystal Palace held United to a frustrating 0-0 draw and that was the Reds' third consecutive goalless match in all competitions. “We did not keep the ball,” said van Gaal. “That's a very important factor and because of that we didn't create too many chances.”
Latest team news : Van Gaal made changes for the win over Villa by resting Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, with Wayne Rooney and Memphis coming in, so it will be interesting to see which of those four will start on Wednesday night. The boss may also be tempted to rotate again, with the FA Cup semi-final against Everton just four days away. Luke Shaw, Adnan Januzaj, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Will Keane could be the only absentees. Palace have injury concerns over Scott Dann, Dwight Gayle, James McArthur, Brede Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh, James McArthur and Kwesi Appiah.
View from the dressing room : “We now have Crystal Palace where hopefully we can win again and then we have the semi-final in the FA Cup. That gives us two very clear aims - to win, if we can, every game in the Premier League to get Champions League football, and then to win the FA Cup, which the club has not won for a few years. We are fully focused on both tasks.” – Juan Mata
Opposition manager : Palace boss Alan Pardew hopes his team's troubles are behind them following a run of positive results, though he would like to pick up more wins in 2016. “We weren't expecting that run [of defeats] to go on as long as it went on,” he explained earlier this month. “The first half of this season we got it right, but the second we haven't. We need to address that. The confidence levels, hopefully, have gone up, and our nervousness has disappeared.”
Danger man : Things didn’t work out for Wilfried Zaha at United but the 23-year-old has impressed since rejoining Palace. A creator of goals, he has also scored five himself in 40 appearances across all competitions and Chris Smalling admits he is expecting a tricky game against his old team-mate. “Crystal Palace are known for having direct and pacey wingers who like to put a lot of balls into the box,” he explained to MUTV ahead of the game. “They play exactly to Wilf’s strengths and he's been able to play in every game. He didn't get that with us but at Palace he's been able to show his ability, week in and week out, in the Premier League.”
Referee : Lancashire-based official Lee Mason will take charge of Wednesday's game at Old Trafford. It will be his 29th match of the season and United fans may remember him from the Capital One Cup clash with Middlesbrough. In total, he has dished out 79 yellow cards and three red cards this term.
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