Man U vs Crystal Palace
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick off: 3pm
Manchester United will be hoping to keep the pressure on the sides above them when they visit Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday (today).
Louis van Gaal’s side trail Manchester City and Arsenal by two points heading into the meeting with the Eagles, who have lost their last three games in all competitions.
Almost everything Alan Pardew has touched since becoming Palace boss has turned to gold, but he faces a battle to boost the squad’s confidence after disappointing performances in recent weeks.
Defeats to West Ham United and Leicester City were followed by a 5-1 League Cup thrashing at the hands of Manchester City in midweek, which has put the pressure on the Eagles to produce a response as they look to prove that many people were right to tip them for a top-10 finish this season.
Palace have lost three and won two of their last five league games, and Pardew will be fully aware that a failure to find consistency heading into a packed winter schedule will see the club slide down the table.
Currently just four points ahead of 15th-placed Chelsea, the outlook could change very quickly should the Eagles struggle to deliver the fast counter-attacking football which has won so many admirers in the early stages of the campaign.
“It’s still very much a happy camp. We work hard and no one likes to lose – that’s certainly the case with this bunch here,” centre-back Brede Hangeland told the club’s website this week. “We’re really keen to put things right as soon as possible and to get some points.” It is a typical statement from inside a club, but without an improved display, a minor blip could become an extended spell of disappointing form.
As seems to have been the case for much of Van Gaal’s reign, the Dutchman has quickly seen impressive weeks followed by spells of disappointing performances, and he has come in for criticism once again in recent days.
Playing out a goalless draw with Manchester City last weekend certainly should not be looked back on as a poor result, but the frustration was clear in midweek as they crashed out of the League Cup with a penalty-shootout loss to Middlesbrough.
Despite the competition clearly not being a priority for the club this season, the display was simply not good enough from the hosts at Old Trafford as they struggled to cause problems for a Championship defence while dominating possession for long spells of the fourth-round tie.
The shootout defeat made it three games without a win in all competitions, and United legend, Paul Scholes, accused Van Gaal of possessing a “lack of creativity” in his squad after scoring just five goals in four games since the start of October.
United fans are desperate to see this side produce a strong title challenge, and while they are currently just two points off the pace, there is a feeling that this side is lacking the quality required to push City and Arsenal to the limit.
Van Gaal’s approach is unlikely to change anytime soon, and a convincing victory over Palace at the weekend will silence some of his critics for a few more weeks as United continue to strive for their best on a regular basis.
Palace possible starting lineup: Hennessey; Kelly, Hangeland, Dann, Ward; McArthur, Jedinak; Zaha, Puncheon, Sako; Bolasie.
Man United possible starting lineup: De Gea; Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger; Mata, Herrera, Rooney, Martial.