Wednesday 20 April 2016 18:40, UK
Manchester United face Crystal Palace on Wednesday night looking to edge closer to a Champions League spot.
After an FA Cup win against West Ham and a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, Manchester United currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, four points behind Arsenal.
A win against Crystal Palace could help in closing the points gap with just four games of the Premier League season left to play.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is likely to name a much-changed side to the one that drew 1-1 away at Arsenal last weekend as they prepare to face Watford in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday afternoon. Palace, currently in 16th, could overtake multiple teams with a positive result.
Team news
Louis van Gaal has no new injury problems from the weekend's match against Aston Villa, with Ander Herrera set to return to the squad.
Luke Shaw is stepping up his recovery with a physiotherapist but is not ready for first-team training, while Van Gaal has suggested he may have to rotate ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Everton.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee) and Adnan Januzaj (hamstring) are still missing.
Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur will make his return from injury on Wednesday.
It had been feared the Scotland international would miss the remainder of the season because of an ankle ligaments injury but he has made a quick recovery.
Pardew is, however, without the injured Yannick Bolasie, Joe Ledley, Joel Ward and Scott Dann, who are all carrying knocks, and Dwight Gayle because of a leg injury.
Opta stats
Manchester United have never lost to Crystal Palace in the Premier League (W10 D3).
The Eagles have failed to score in 10 of their 13 Premier League games against Manchester United and five of six at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have won their last eight home league matches against Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace have kept only one clean sheet away to Manchester United in league competition in 18 attempts - October 1970 (1-0).
Juan Mata has scored in two of his last three Premier League appearances against the Eagles, netting the winner in this exact fixture last term.
Marcus Rashford has scored seven goals in his 12 appearances for Manchester United so far, despite attempting only 10 shots on target.
Crystal Palace have won six Premier League points (W1 D3 L0) in April so far, more than in January, February and March combined (two points - W0 D2 L9).
Wayne Rooney has scored 99 Premier League goals at Old Trafford - the only player to have scored 100+ at a single Premier League ground is Thierry Henry at Highbury (114).
Charlie's prediction
Palace have done well after slipping towards danger, grabbing another big draw at the Emirates and, while everyone at the club is saying they're not quite there, I don't see any of the bottom three catching them now.
United were really poor at the weekend, which was strange because of the improvements they've made and again, it's Marcus Rashford that gets them out of it. Villa were waiting to get battered and looked surprised when they realised they could have got something.
Louis van Gaal has to play Antony Martial and Rashford and I'd back them both to score if he does, but I'm not expecting them to run riot.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Manchester United are 4/7 favourites with Sky Bet while Crystal Palace are priced at 5/1 and the draw available at 29/10. United will be desperate to keep the pressure on Manchester City and Arsenal in the race for a top four finish, with their odds currently 4/1, while Palace will want to banish any outside relegation worries, with odds currently 150/1.
Marcus Rashford is 7/2 to score the first goal with Yannick Bolasie a 12/1 shot to follow up his goal at the Emirates by breaking the deadlock on Wednesday. See all the match odds and Price Boosts here.
