As Zirkzee returns to his preferred position, the academy striker will lead the line for Manchester United in their match against Crystal Palace. The predicted lineup for the match is as follows: In light of the fact that Ruben Amorim has been unable to adjust to the system, Hujlund makes a decision.
On Sunday afternoon, Manchester United will play Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in the Premier League. The Red Devils are looking to win their fourth consecutive match across all competitions.
The Red Devils were able to take care of business on the Europa League stage in Romania on Thursday night, while the Eagles have been given a full week to reflect on their most recent loss in the top flight, which was to Brentford.
After finishing in eighth place in the Premier League last year under the direction of Erik ten Hag, it seems as though Manchester United are on track to have their worst-ever Premier League campaign under the direction of Ruben Amorim. However, the Portuguese coach has led the team that will be hosting Sunday’s match to an improvement in their fortunes in recent times.
Earlier in the week, the Red Devils were scheduled to travel to Romania on Thursday night. However, they were able to secure maximum points against FCSB thanks to the efforts of Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo in the second half. This resulted in the Old Trafford club finishing third in the league phase of the Europa League, which allowed them to qualify automatically for the round of 16.
Amorim’s success on the European stage thus far is highlighted by the fact that Manchester United is the only team in both the Champions League and the Europa League to have gone unbeaten throughout the league phase. They have won five of their eight matches on the continental stage so far this season, and they have drawn three of them.
There was also a result that was a pick-me-up for the Red Devils in their most recent Premier League match. A goal scored by Lisandro Martinez that was heavily deflected at the home of Fulham resulted in the maximum points being awarded. This means that United have only lost one of their last four league matches since the end of December, which was a concerning three-match losing streak.
Even though they have only lost one of their last seven matches across all competitions, Manchester United is still languishing down in a lowly 12th position in the Premier League table. They are staring at a 12-point gap to Newcastle United in fifth place, and it is likely that this weekend’s hosts will need to win the Europa League in order to qualify for the Champions League the following season.
As is the case with their opponents on Sunday afternoon, Crystal Palace had the intention of securing a European spot this season after a promising end to the 2023-24 season under the direction of Oliver Glasner. However, due to a poor start to the season, they are currently stuck in the middle of the table.
Having said that, the Eagles have started to soar once more in recent times. Prior to last weekend, they were on a six-game unbeaten streak across the Premier League and FA Cup. This streak ended when goals scored by Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade earned three points for Brentford, who are rivals of the Eagles in London.
During the match against the Bees, Romain Esse scored a goal for Crystal Palace just two minutes into his debut for the club. Esse, who is 19 years old and was acquired from Millwall, a Championship club, for an initial fee of twelve million pounds in the middle of January, was able to find the back of the net for Crystal Palace with a late goal.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for the month of January. This comes after the Frenchman began his 2025 season with four goals in as many top-flight matches, bringing his total for the league season to eight goals. Mateta has been tasked with being a more consistent contributor of goals for the Eagles.
In the previous season, Palace secured a historic victory at the Theatre of Dreams thanks to a goal scored by Joachim Andersen in the first half. The Eagles, led by Glasner, should be relatively confident of achieving another result at Old Trafford this weekend, especially considering that they have the best defence on the road in the Premier League, having allowed only 11 goals to be scored against them so far.
Despite the fact that the left-back is making a slow recovery from his hamstring injury and is not likely to play this weekend, Manchester United have been given a boost by the return of Luke Shaw to first-team training.
The absence of Jonny Evans, who has been absent from the Red Devils’ back line for the past seven matches due to an unspecified problem, further reduces the options available to the Red Devils in this position.
In spite of the fact that he has been plagued by injuries during his time in Manchester, Mason Mount continues to be a long-term absentee for the home team. This season, the former Chelsea star has only participated in eight Premier League matches.
Bruno Fernandes is expected to be the partner of Manuel Ugarte in the engine room for Manchester United. This is due to the fact that Mainoo is performing exceptionally well in an attack-oriented role in Romania on Thursday.
Chadi Riad, a centre back for Crystal Palace, has sustained a serious injury while training, and it is anticipated that he will be unable to play for the remainder of the season.
Due to the fact that Trevor Chalobah returned to Chelsea at the beginning of January, the Eagles are currently struggling to make ends meet with only three senior centre backs, with Marc Guehi being arguably the best of the available options.
More encouraging news for the away team is that midfielder Adam Wharton is making progress towards a return from a serious groin strain. The England international had not played since late October, and his last appearance was in late October.
A possible starting lineup for Manchester United would consist of the following players: Onana; De Ligt; Maguire; Martinez; Dalot; Ugarte; Fernandes; Mazraoui; Diallo; Mainoo; Zirkzee
The following players have been considered for starting positions for Crystal Palace: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Esse, Eze; Mateta