Early team news for United v Palace

Friday 03 February 2023 07:00

Manchester United are preparing for a return to Premier League action, against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The 15:00 GMT kick-off presents an opportunity to extend our home winning sequence to 13 games but the Eagles will aim to make life tough again, as they did in the 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park recently.

Erik ten Hag made six changes for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Nottingham Forest and will be pondering his options again.

Diogo Dalot returned to training on Thursday, alongside new loan recruit Marcel Sabitzer, providing another boost after Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial came back from their lay-offs as substitutes in the 3-0 win that sealed a 5-0 aggregate triumph.

Welcome back, Jadon! Video

Welcome back, Jadon!

Old Trafford rose to its feet as Sancho returned to the side following three months out...

The boss has suggested he will continue to freshen up his forward line during games, as he did on Wednesday when swapping all three attacking players.

"I think I could do that for future games coming up," he said. "To bring them in but also to rest the others because we need the energy everywhere but definitely the forward line is where we want to score goals."

There is also a hope that Ten Hag will have close to a full-strength squad before the campaign is out.

“The problem is they are not always available, until now," he said of Sancho and Martial.

"We made a lot of compromises during the season so far. So, hopefully, we come to a point where everyone is available and to win trophies, they have to be available because you need them all because you have so many games to cover.

"And also, you see tonight [Wednesday], you can do something from the bench and you can bring in a different dynamic from the bench."

Three midfielders - Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek and Christian Eriksen - are on the sidelines due to injury.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Jack Butland is ineligible due to the terms of his loan move from Palace.

How to watch and follow United v Palace

 Article

Erik ten Hag's side returns to Premier League action this weekend, as we host the Eagles at Old Trafford.

PALACE'S TEAM NEWS

Eagles boss Patrick Vieira has a few injury worries to contend with ahead of the game, including former Reds winger Wilfried Zaha, who is struggling with a hamstring problem.

Danish centre-back Joachim Andersen has been out since missing our match at Selhurst Park, while James McArthur and Nathan Ferguson could also remain absent.

New loan signing from Arsenal, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and permanent arrival from Stuttgart, Naouirou Ahamada, are in line for debuts.

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