At Selhurst Park, Manchester United faced Crystal Palace in an attempt to win there for the first time since 2020.
Andre Onana, who had a rare night off during the Carabao Cup triumph over Barnsley, went back to his customary starting position.
The starting lineup for the match against Southampton last Saturday included Noussair Mazraoui, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, and Matthijs de Ligt in the back four.
After the international break, midfield mainstays Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes joined Christian Eriksen in the starting lineup, marking three straight starts for the veteran forward.
Alejandro Garnacho secured a starting position following his four goal contributions on Tuesday night, and Joshua Zirkzee returned to start up front alongside Amad Diallo.
These are the lessons we took away from the game.
Erik ten Hag’s team is still having trouble shooting goals.
United only scored 57 goals in the league the previous season, a victim of their lackluster goal-scoring play.
Ten Hag’s team has been having trouble completing movements. They lead the list of the biggest opportunities squandered this season, having already missed 17. This was evident in another unproductive contest in South London.
When given excellent opportunities to put their team ahead, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, and Joshua Zirkzee might have all performed better.
Even though so many opportunities were created, United won’t accomplish their goals this season if they can’t develop a more merciless goal-scoring streak. The 0-0 stalemate and point earned do little to improve the club’s league standing in the early going.
United keeps improving at maintaining possession.
The Red Devils entered the game with confidence after winning 7-0 midweek, which gave them more self-assurance.
United controlled the action and possessed 67% of the ball during the game. They frequently won the ball back in high positions. The Red Devils were very much the team trying to create throughout, even though Palace managed to get back into the game in the second half.
The goal of adding De Ligt and Mazraoui to the back was to make the team more comfortable when in possession. This season’s performance was very different from the previous one, which was dominated by transitions and let the opposition’s inferior players dictate the play.
This effort was undoubtedly closer to the new owners’ vision than last season’s, despite the less than ideal outcome. Ineos, the team’s new owners, have made it clear that they want to see improvements in both results and a consistent, dominant style of football.
When the Red Devils play Tottenham, Porto, and Aston Villa before the next international break, they’ll soon face more difficult opponents, and how they set up for these matches will be a genuine barometer of how far they’ve come.
Bruno Fernandes appears sluggish.
Since joining the team in January 2020, the United captain has undoubtedly been the greatest player on the team. He scored and assisted on multiple goals last season.
Despite starting all but one of United’s games this season, the Portugal international is remained a constant, contributing two assists in the cup midweek while coming off the bench.
He participated in some pivotal occasions during the game, as usual, but, like the most of the season thus far, he has found it difficult to find his finishing touch.
