Sunday 10 May 2015 10:28, UK
Manchester United could confirm their Champions League qualification place this weekend with victory at Crystal Palace, if other results go their way.
Indeed, should Louis van Gaal’s side win at Selhurst Park on Saturday Night Football and Liverpool lose at Chelsea on Sunday their top four place will be confirmed with two games to spare.
Three straight defeats without scoring have all but ended United’s hopes of a second place finish but they remain clear favourites to achieve their goal of Champions League qualification at the expense of their Merseyside rivals.
Palace are also on a three game losing streak without scoring - the narrow defeat at Chelsea last weekend coming on the back of successive 2-0 home defeats to West Brom and Hull.
Alan Pardew’s side are safe from relegation after their impressive run following the new manager’s arrival and will now hope to finish the season on a high.
Team news
Fraizer Campbell and Marouane Chamakh are both available again after recovering from hamstring injuries while Joel Ward played 90 minutes against Chelsea last weekend, having overcome a shin complaint.
Wilfried Zaha is set to face United for the first time since he left Old Trafford to rejoin Palace permanently in the January transfer window.
Several members of the Manchester United squad are doubtful for Saturday's game because of a virus.
Manager Louis van Gaal said "a lot" of players were suffering from the virus, but would not go into specifics.
Defenders Luke Shaw (groin), Marcos Rojo (adductor), Jonny Evans (nerve) and Phil Jones (ankle) have overcome their respective injury worries, but right-back Rafael (rib) and midfielder Michael Carrick (calf) are out for the season.
Opta facts
Palace have failed to score in eight of the last 10 meetings with Manchester United in all competitions.
Manchester United have won 11 and lost none of the last 13 league meetings with Crystal Palace.
United have kept clean sheets against Palace at Selhurst Park in each of their last four visits in all competitions.
Man Utd have failed to score in their last two away games. They have only failed to score in three in a row once before in Premier League history (April 2005).
Manchester United have lost just two of their last 22 Premier League away games in London (W12 D8 L2) and those came against Chelsea.
The Red Devils have conceded just three goals in their last eight Premier League away games in the capital, keeping five clean sheets.
Wayne Rooney currently has 185 Premier League goals – the only players with more are Andrew Cole (187) and Alan Shearer (260).
Six of Crystal Palace’s last eight Premier League goals have been scored (three) or assisted (three) by Glenn Murray.
There have only been six occasions of a player attempting as many as 16 dribbles in a single PL game this season and four of them have been by Wilfried Zaha. One of these came in United's last game against Chelsea (16 attempted).
The Eagles have won a league-high 18 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season.
Merson's prediction
United have lost their last three in the Premier League without scoring. However, if you play against Palace, you really want to do so at Selhurst Park. They are not the same team when playing at home, and so I am going to go for Man United to bounce back from those recent defeats by winning this one 2-0.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (15/2 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Manchester United are Sky Bet’s odds-on favourites at 10/11 with Crystal Palace 3/1 while the draw priced at 12/5. Louis van Gaal’s men will be keen to close the door on Liverpool’s Champions League chances as they are currently considered 9/1 to finish outside the top-four. Palace, meanwhile, still hold slight hopes of a top-half finish, with Sky Bet making them 20/1 to end in the top 10. In the first goalscorer betting, Wayne Rooney leads the way at 9/2 followed by Robin van Persie (5/1), while Glenn Murray is considered the hosts’ biggest threat at 7/1 to break the deadlock.
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