Manchester United will start their Premier League season off this weekend after a delayed start due to their Europa League campaign last season.

Their opposition for Saturday's game, Crystal Palace, have already started their league campaign where they beat Southampton 1-0 thanks to a goal from former United player Wilfried Zaha.

Roy Hodgson's men did suffer a second round EFL Cup exit on Tuesday evening. The game finished 0-0 but Palace were knocked out 11-10 on penalties against Bournemouth.

United's last competitive game was over a month ago. The Europa League semi-final against Sevilla saw Ole Gunnar Solskjær's men lose 2-1.

Palace only managed to retain 29% of possession against Southampton and if they fail to hold onto much of the ball against United, with the attacking threat Solskjær's men have to offer, United will punish the Eagles.

  • Team news

Manchester United

The Reds have conducted little transfer business so far other than the signing of Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek.

Dean Henderson has penned a long-term deal with the club. He will challenge United's current number one, David De Gea, for that starting goalkeeper spot.

However, Solskjær will most likely be without Phil Jones, who has a knee injury, and Axel Tuanzebe, who is out with a foot problem, but he is making good progress and could be back in October.

Both Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba are minor doubts but could still feature against Palace.

Pogba has missed a number of pre-season training sessions after testing positive for coronavirus late last month.

Greenwood has been training on his own as he waits for the results of a coronavirus test following his dismissal from the England squad for a breach of the COVID guidelines.

Crystal Palace

Palace have brought in some quality over the summer with Eberechi Eze joining from Queens Park Rangers and Michy Batshuayi re-joining the club on loan from Chelsea.

Mamadou Sakho came on as a substitute against Bournemouth after picking up an injury towards the end of last season.

Christian Benteke is still a doubt after breaking his foot in July. Hodgson has said that there is talk that Benteke could be returning to training.

Gary Cahill, Patrick van Aanholt, Nathan Ferguson, James Tomkins, and Connor Wickham are all long-term absentees. 

  • Predicted lineups

Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelöf, Shaw; van de Beek, Matic; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

Crystal Palace: Guaita; Ward, Kouyaté, Dann, Mitchell; McArthur, McCarthy;  Eze, Zaha; Ayew, Batshuayi

  • Ones to watch

Manchester United - Bruno Fernandes

After Fernandes joined the club early this year he has certainly become a fan favourite.

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In the Premier League, the 26-year-old has played 14 games, scored eight goals (four penalties), and provided seven assists.

The Portugal international will be wanting to hit the ground running after helping United get Champions League football with a third-placed finish last season.

Crystal Palace - Wilfried Zaha

Zaha recently netted the 50th league goal of his career. The former United winger is known for his quick feet and skilful dribbling.

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The 27-year-old is Palace's star man. However, the Ivory Coast international has faced his former side 11 times and has never scored against them, according to Transfermarkt.

With Zaha's team already having played a game and this being United's first, it may take his former club a while to settle into the game, meaning Zaha may well get an early chance in the game.

  • Previous meeting

Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester United (16/07/20)

The two most recently met after the restart of the Premier League last season.

Marcus Rashford opened the scoring just before half time, with some clever footwork leaving the Palace goalkeeper and defenders on the floor.


Anthony Martial then doubled United's lead after 78 minutes played, this time Rashford turned provider and played Martial in who placed the ball into the bottom right corner.

Earlier in the same season, Crystal Palace did beat United 2-1 at Old Trafford, The Red Devils will be hoping for a different result this time around.

  • Where to watch

UK residents will be able to watch the game live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event on Saturday, September 10th from 5pm with the game kicking off at 5:30pm.

The match can also be watched on NOW TV with a Sky Sports day pass.

  • Prediction

Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace

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