16
Manchester United are set to make their way to Selhurst Park on Monday to take an in-form Crystal Palace that have taken 10 points from their last four matches.
United will be keen to avoid further misery following a barren run in April that saw Erik ten Hag’s men win just one of their five top-flight clashes.
The Red Devils will undoubtedly be eager to register a win over the Eagles as they seek to secure Europa League football, now that Champions League qualification is out of the picture.
Man United team news
Ahead of the match, Ten Hag has welcomed back defender Jonny Evans and striker Anthony Martial into first-team training – brilliant news for the United boss and his coaching staff.
Welcome back, lads đź‘‹
🤝 @AnthonyMartial x Jonny Evans 🤝#MUFC || #PL pic.twitter.com/clWm2KGOnx
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 2, 2024
The pair was seen at Carrington on Thursday, intensifying their training regimen. Evans has been absent since United’s match against Chelsea, while Martial has been sidelined since January. Martial’s last appearance for the 20-time English champions was in their loss to Bournemouth at Old Trafford last year.
Evans’ return will especially come as a huge lift to Ten Hag, who has been grappling with an injury crisis in the defensive department. The Dutch coach has been forced to deploy a centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Casemiro in recent games.
With Martial now available, United possess an alternative to Rasmus Hojlund and bolster their attacking options from the bench.
However, Ten Hag relayed in his presser that Scott McTominay, who suffered an injury scare late on against Burnley, is expected to return to training on Saturday with a late decision to be made on whether the Scot makes the journey down to South London.
Bruno Fernandes is a doubt for the match although he can’t be completely ruled out as Ten Hag himself stated. The 29-year-old has yet to miss a game for United since arriving at the Theatre of Dreams from Sporting Lisbon.
There are also question marks over Marcus Rashford, who has not featured since limping off in extra time in the FA Cup semi-final vs. Coventry City. Ten Hag said that Rashford hasn’t completely healed and is still recovering from the issue he picked up.
Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia and Willy Kambwala all remain absent.
Crystal Palace team news
Like United, Palace have received a huge defensive boost with Englishman Marc Guehi now back in training. Guehi still hasn’t played under new boss Glasner but could finally get the opportunity on Monday.
Influential midfielder Eberechi Eze is also expected to make his comeback for Palace after he was left out in their previous game against Fulham. Eze has notched eight goals and three assists for the London club in 24 Premier League appearances this term.
Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucoure will also likely be in contention to line up for Palace against United. There will be no reunion for Carrington academy graduate Sam Johnstone but his goalkeeping counterpart and also former Red Dean Henderson will almost certainly start between the sticks.
The game kicks off at 8pm BST. Live coverage of proceedings is available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.
Want to be the first to hear breaking Man United news? For carefully selected, crucial updates, join our WhatsApp channel: https://bit.ly/United-Breaking-News.