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Crystal Palace will try to make use of their brilliant home form to hold off a struggling Manchester United side, but the visitors will come into this one desperate for points.
Palace (15th place) has played really well lately at home, winning their last three games at Selhurst Park. On the other hand the opposition was not too strong (Stoke, Hull, West Brom) and Palace did lose the last three road gamed they played, so their form might be a little misleading. All in all, the team is surely on an uptrend as Palace managed to climb out of the relegation zone and even put 2 points between them and 18th placed Sunderland.
United could hardly play any worse right now, as Moyes` side is on a three match winless streak and sits on the 7th place in the standings, 15 points behind leaders Chelsea and 9 points behind the last Champions League spot held by Liverpool. Manchester would really need a win here both for points and for confidence going into the Champions League tie with Olympiakos on Tuesday. The bright spot for United is that they are on the back of an encouraging 0-0 draw at Arsenal and that the team is finally healthy, with Rooney and van Persie fully fit to play alongside Mata for a star offensive trio.
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Team news & lineups:
The hosts are close to a clean bill of health as their only injury concern is Thomas (questionable). United will be without Nani, while Rafael, Evans and Jones will be game time decisions. A vastly different scenaro for the visitors compared to the 10 players they were missing about a month ago.
Crystal Palace: Speroni – Ward, Dann, Delaney, Parr – Puncheon, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Ledley; Ince – Chamakh.
Manchester United: De Gea – Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra – Carrick, Cleverley – Mata, Rooney, Januzaj – Van Persie.
I will pick Manchester United to win here. They have been a nightmare for punters this season, are in poor form and meet an opponent that won 3 consecutive home games, but this provides us with odds we wouldn`t have gotten otherwise – considering the huge quality difference between the two sides. I think it`s a very good time for the Devils to recover. They are improving after the draw at Arsenal and they are healthy, which will make a world of difference. Also, Palace’s form is a little misleading considering the poor opposition they faced at Selhurst Park recently. I can see United holding the ball in this one and with Rooney and van Persie fit and slowly getting back in form alongside Mata, I expect the visitors to take the chances that come their way. With Vidic and Ferdinand back in the defensive setup United is also much more tight at the back, and a low-scoring Palace side could have problems breaking them. Sheer quality should see the visitors through if not anything else: the hosts have a really poor roster and determination can only work until a point: Palace has gained a single draw against the top 10 sides this season, 0-0 with Everton in early November. This is a key stat for this bet in my opinion.
My tip is Manchester United to win. I expect a low scoring game with United trying to keep a clean sheet and the under also looks nice (at good odds), but I can`t rule out a 1-2 or 1-3 result. Prediction: Crystal Palace – Manchester United 0-2.
Pick: Manchester United
Odds: 1.62 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 4.96
Event date: 22 February
