Jose Mourinho is unlikely to make a lot of changes to his Manchester United side that beat Chelsea last time out as Crystal Palace beckon on Monday.
Manchester United will take on relegation-threatened Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night, in a bid to reclaim the second position in the Premier League standings.
United slipped down to third, with Liverpool usurping them following their 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday and Jose Mourinho and his team will be hoping to move past their rivals with a win over Roy Hodgson’s Eagles who are without a win in their last five league games and have lost two in a row heading into Monday’s encounter.
Manchester United will go into the game without midfielders Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini, although the manager revealed that the Belgian is close to a return to action. Defenders Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind have been ruled out of the tie as well.
David De Gea is very much a guaranteed starter between the sticks for United against Palace. In front of him, the experienced duo of Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young is likely to be retained as the preferred full-back pairing, while Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling expected to start in the centre of the backline once again, despite Eric Bailly’s availability.
In the centre of the park, academy graduate Scott McTominay is likely to get another chance to further impress his manager. He will be partnered up by summer signing Nemanja Matic while Paul Pogba will complete the midfield trio for the Red Devils at the Selhurst Park.
In the attacking department, veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fit again and training, but Mourinho has ruled him out of contention for the game against Palace. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Manchester United boss said that this could be the Swede’s last season in England and that the striker feels he isn’t completely ready to return to action as of yet.
“For Zlatan, we all think it’s his last season at Manchester United and it will be a very personal decision for him to play or to stop. Is he injured? No, he’s not injured. Does he feel totally happy and totally ready and totally convinced that he’s in [the] conditions to help the team in this moment? No.”
“He’s working hard and, hopefully, his evolution brings him to that level that he wants to have a positive answer.”
Romelu Lukaku, who had a stellar outing against Chelsea last weekend, is once again expected to lead the line for United on Monday. He is likely to be flanked by England international Jesse Lingard, who scored the winner against Chelsea last week, on the right side and former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez on the left, which would mean Anthony Martial misses out.
