Manchester United head to Crystal Palace Monday night in a very well rested state. They beat Chelsea 2-1 last week to hold on to second place, a slot that is becoming very hotly contested now between themselves and arch-rival Liverpool. Players from both of the northwest England sides say that their team will be the one that finishes the year runners-up to Manchester City, so expect this fierce battle to go down to the end.
What really matters of course, is finishing in the top four, and neither side can afford to drop points as Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea remain in the hunt.
The Red Devils will face a very weak side Monday night, a Palace team that has just 27 points on the season, but holds on to the last safety slot due to a tiebreaker.
Expect manager Jose Mourinho to field a strong side, as they absolutely must take all three points here, so let’s take a look at who he might start in this one.
Man United Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3 formation):
Goalkeeper- David de Gea
Defenders- Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw
Midfielders- Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba,
Attack- Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez
Odds: Crystal Palace 6/1, Draw 10/3, United 4/7
Jose Mourinho press conference video: go to this link
Injury Report for both teams: go to this link
Prediction: United 2, Crystal Palace 0
Feel free to post your own Crystal Palace and/or Man United starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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