Man U vs. Crystal Palace
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 3PM
Manchester United welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford for their third match of the 2019-20 campaign this afternoon.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will be looking to make it two wins out of two at home this season, having emphatically beaten Chelsea 4-0 on the opening day.
Roy Hodgson’s Palace, on the other hand, will be looking to register their first goal of 2019-20, having drawn blanks against Everton and Sheffield United.
Manchester United have made an encouraging start to the new season, with Solskjaer now having had a summer to implement his ideas at Old Trafford.
The 4-0 opening day victory over Chelsea confounded expectations, and the Red Devils will feel they were unfortunate not to take all three points from their trip to Molineux on Monday night.
Paul Pogba’s late penalty could have seen United come through two difficult early tests unscathed, but Rui Patricio was on hand to save and ensure that his Wolverhampton Wanderers side came out with a creditable 1-1 draw.
Solskjaer has looked to bring the feel-good factor back at United, favouring quick counter-attacking football over the sometimes dour possession-based football often seen at Old Trafford in the post-Ferguson years.
Wolves themselves favour a counter-attacking approach and forced Solskjaer’s side to try to break them down.
All was going well for United with Anthony Martial’s goal having given them a deserved half time lead, but they were pegged back by Ruben Neves’ brilliant strike from 25 yards, before Pogba’s late penalty miss.
Despite United’s encouraging start to the new season, it has not been forgotten just how disappointing their end to the 2018-19 campaign was.
After replacing Jose Mourinho in December, Solskjaer won 10 and drew two of his opening 12 games in charge.
A run of just eight points from their last nine games, however, cost the Red Devils a place in the Champions League, heaping scrutiny on the Norwegian.
The former-Molde boss was able to bring in three new signings in the summer, with all having impressed in the opening fortnight of the season.
World-record defender Harry Maguire has brought poise and grit to the United rearguard, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka could feasibly be the club’s right-back for the next decade.
Fellow new recruit Daniel James scored a dream debut goal from the bench against Chelsea, earning a first ever Premier League start against Wolves.
James has epitomised the refreshing sense of youth that the United manager has brought back at Old Trafford, with Scott McTominay another to have flourished under the 46-year-old.
This fixture last season, a turgid 0-0 draw, epitomised the malaise at the club in the latter stages of the Mourinho era.
United will be hoping to lay down a further marker that this season will be different.
Man U possible XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw, McTominay, Pogba, Pereira, Lingard, Rashford, Martial.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Ward, Kelly, Dann, Van Aanholt, Townsend, Milivojevic, McArthur, Meyer, Zaha, Benteke.