Key events
18 min Garnacho and Zirkzee get together again but can’t find a tune.
17 min The ball spends some time in midfield, the players scrapping like kids.
14 min Another United corner: Fernandes I think ends up getting a shot in from close range, saved again. And another, but nothing comes of it.
13 min Chance! De Ligt soars into the air at a corner and heads the ball down. Henderson does well to shove it out.
12 min Garnacho and Zirkzee threaten again on the break, but Palace get reinforcements back easily enough.
11 min United can’t do anything with the resulting corner.
10 min Chance! Zirkzee sends a through ball to Garnacho, who races forward with his usual boyish glee. His left-foot shot is well saved by Henderson, tipping it round the post.
7 min Garnacho tries a give-and-go, but Eriksen’s through ball is overhit.
6 min When United finally reach the halfway line, Amad is dispossessed. So far, so scrappy.
5 min United play a bit of walking football at the back.
3 min United win a corner on the right through Amad’s persistence. De Ligt gets his head to it but can only plop the ball into the arms of Henderson.
2 min Mateta is almost through on goal – but he clips Mattijs de Ligt, who goes down rather theatrically and wins a free kick.
1 min Palace kick off and soon win a throw on the left, then go back to Dean Henderson.
The players are out there and so is the evening sun. Palace in their usual red and blue stripes, United in their new third strip – off-white with bits of red and black.
Sky has been having a word with each manager. “We have respect,” says Oliver Glasner, “but we know they will give us space to create chances.” Ouch!
Erik ten Hag gets his own back when, after praising Palace’s aggression, he observes: “They make a lot of tactical fouls.”
Asked whether it was a difficult decision to bench Rashford, he says: “No, it is not a difficult decision. We have to rotate, we have so many games to cover and we have to give Alejandro [Garnacho] games. We’ve seen he has a lot of end product, so many goals and assists, and he has only started one time this season.”
Erik ten Hag’s other surprise comes in midfield. Manuel Ugarte, who started in the Carabao, has to wait for his first league start as Christian Eriksen retains his place. Eriksen was at his gleaming best on Tuesday as the No 10, but when starting in the pivot with Kobbie Mainoo, he has quite a shaky record – won 3, drawn 2, lost 2. And one of those losses was at Selhurst Park in May.
Teams in full
Crystal Palace (probable 3-4-1-2) Henderson; Richards, Guéhi, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Eze; Nketiah, Mateta.
Subs: Turner, Ward, Clyne, Hughes, Schlupp, Lerma, Agbinone, Sarr, Umeh-Chibueze.
Manchester United (probable 4-2-3-1) Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen; Amad, Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee.
Subs: Bayindir, Maguire, Evans, Ugarte, Casemiro, Mount, Antony, Hojlund, Rashford.
Referee David Coote.
Teams in brief: Wharton back for Palace
No surprises from Oliver Glasner as Adam Wharton, so impressive in Palace’s late charge last season, returns to the pivot after getting a night off against QPR. Eddie Nketiah, who once overcame United almost singlehandedly for Arsenal, starts up front next to Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Teams in brief: Rashford benched!
Well this is a surprise. Marcus Rashford, who has three goals in his last game and a half, is dropped to the bench. Amad returns on the right, Alejandro Garnacho keeps his place on the left after being involved in four of the seven goals against Barnsley, and Joshua Zirkzee is back as the No.9-and-a-half. Maybe Rashford has a niggle, or maybe this is why Erik ten Hag was talking about him needing to be resilient.
In better news for United fans, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund are both fit enough to be among the subs. It all adds up to a heavyweight bench.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to an intriguing rematch. Five months ago Manchester United went to Selhurst Park and lost 4-0. It was their lowest ebb of last season, which was saying something. For Oliver Glasner’s Palace, it was part of a golden end to 2023-24 – six wins in their last seven games, including one at Anfield.
Teams that finish one season strongly are supposed to start the next well too, but Palace have proved an exception to the rule. Michael Olise has moved to Munich and seems to have taken their attacking flair with him (he scored twice today). His old mates have won none of their first four league games and in the table this morning they were level with two of the promoted clubs, Leicester and Ipswich. But Palace are usually hard to beat at home and all the more so in the evening, when the home fans make their presence felt.
United rebounded well from that embarrassment in May, beating Newcastle and Brighton, then somehow stealing the FA Cup from Man City. But this season they have been as patchy as ever – beaten at Brighton, humbled at home by Liverpool, unconvincing at Southampton until André Onana saved a penalty. Since that Sliding Doors moment, they have scored ten goals and conceded none, with Marcus Rashford scoring three and suddenly resembling his old self, and the fans daring to hope that Erik ten Hag’s under-performers have finally turned a corner. This evening will tell.
