The Red Devils look to kick start their campaign positively, hosting The Eagles at Old Trafford. After only one preseason game at the Midlands at Villa Park, it will be interesting to see how United start their campaign, after climbing the table to finish third last term.
MANCHESTER UNITED:
· New signing Donny Van de Beek is available to start, after he started against Aston Villa
· Centre backs Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe are the only senior players injured, youth product Teden Mengi trains with the first team.
· Pogba is back in training after testing positive for the corona virus.
· It will be interesting to see how United line up, in the latter half of the 2020/21 campaign Pogba seemed to be improving on the defensive front and the ground he covers while tracking back. This might enable Ole to start him a little deeper and start the new pair of Fernandes and Van de Beek. Ole might play it safe and continue with Matic or McTominay, but a Pogba-Fernandes-Van de Beek midfield looks exciting.
Expected Lineups: De Gea, Shaw-Lindelof-Maguire-Wan Bissaka, McTominay-Pogba-Fernandes, Rashford-Martial-Greenwood
CRYSTAL PALACE:
· Roy Hodgson’s side started off the campaign brilliantly with a 1-0 win over a Southampton side which looked complete and was performing well in the preseason, Zaha with a perfectly volley in the 12th minute ensuring the much needed three points.
· The Eagles started the campaign with a very disciplined 4-4-2, and they plan on implementing it for the rest of the season.
· Gary Cahill, James Tomkins, van Aanholt and Nathan Ferguson are still unavailable but Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke have recovered, with Sakho available to start.
· New signing Eze could start with him putting in decent shifts, Tyreek Michell has proven himself as a future Three Lions starter.
Expected Lineups: Guaita, Ward-Kouyate-Dann-Mitchell, Townsend-McArthur-Milivojevic-Schlupp, Zaha-Ayew