English Premier
2025-02-02 - Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 2nd February 2025 - Kick Off 2pm
Manchester United
For the first time in the 2024/25 season, Manchester United have won three games in a row and the victory in Bucharest on Thursday has secured a spot in the Last 16 of the Europa League. That is important and it will give Ruben Amorim a number of free midweeks in February that will allow him to work on the squad of players that will be under his control until the summer at least.
A late winner at Craven Cottage pushed Manchester United back up into 12th place in the Premier League table, but pushing on towards the European spots in the Division is going to be the challenge over the remaining fixtures. One of the big disappointments for the club this season has to be the 5-1-6 home record in the League where Manchester United have scored 17 goals and conceded 20.
Manchester United have lost 1 of their 7 games played in all competitions in this calendar year and they move into February having won 4 of their last 5. They did score a late winner against Rangers in the Europa League at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago, but Manchester United were beaten 1-3 by Brighton in the last Premier League fixture at home and have lost 4 of their last 5 at Old Trafford in the top flight.
Luke Shaw is back in training, although the manager has made it clear that there is still a process to work through before he can return to action. Marcus Rashford remains an outcast and there may be one or two players unsure about their future at the club with the transfer window closing on Monday.
Crystal Palace
It was quite an even game last Sunday, but Crystal Palace were perhaps a bit frustrated with some of the decisions that cost them in the 1-2 home loss to Brentford. The twice taken Penalty that helped Brentford take the lead clearly was an irritation, although overall the recent form has been positive and Oliver Glasner has had a week to get his players ready to bounce back.
Relegation fears have been eased over the last six weeks with Crystal Palace moving back up into 13th place and 11 points clear of the relegation zone. Keeping faith in Oliver Glasner looks to have been rewarded and The Eagles travel to the North West with a 4-4-3 away record.
Crystal Palace had been unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions and had won 3 in a row before the loss to Brentford last Sunday. The side will be looking to extend their 7 game unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League and Crystal Palace have won 4 of their last 5 on their travels in the top flight, while earning 3 clean sheets in a row.
Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are both expected to miss out- the former could be out for the remainder of the season. Adam Wharton is hoping to return later this month, while Joel Ward is another doubt.
Head to Head
There were chances for both sides, but wastefulness won out in the goalless draw between Crystal Palace and Manchester United earlier this season.
Manchester United had beaten Crystal Palace in 3 successive fixtures at Old Trafford in all competitions, but were beaten 0-1 in the Premier League here last season to snap that sequence.
Prediction
The players have trained in Romania on Friday morning after Manchester United's late night success in Bucharest and Ruben Amorim is going to be keen to see his team maintain their strong run.
For a club of this size, 3 wins in a row in all competitions should not mean a great deal, but Manchester United have not managed to do that since winning the FA Cup Final at the end of last season.
Clean sheets against Fulham and FCSB is a real bonus, but Amorim will be keen to see a bit more intensity or belief in some of the attacking patterns that his team are trying to produce. February is a key month for the manager with the time he is going to get on the training ground with a squad that is still learning, and the next step for Manchester United is to start playing with a bit less anxiety at Old Trafford.
It is the reason the manager has given for the poor recent results at home in the Premier League where Manchester United have lost 4 of their last 5 fixtures in the top flight.
Next up is a Crystal Palace team that just had a decent unbeaten run in the Premier League snapped by Brentford, although Oliver Glasner's men were slightly unfortunate on the day.
There was some pressure on Glasner, especially as clubs around Crystal Palace had chosen to change manager, but the board believed in the Austrian and the rewards are clear to see.
Relegation fears have almost been completely erased, while Crystal Palace are unbeaten in 7 away Premier League games and have won 4 of their last 5 on their travels. The 3 away clean sheets in a row will offer them plenty of encouragement and Crystal Palace have not conceded a goal in their last 3 against Manchester United.
There are not many times that you would skip past a Manchester United odds on price to beat Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, but the recent form and the overall performances have not been that convincing.
Defensively there have been some improvements, and that may be the key to this fixture against a tough Crystal Palace team that have looked organised and who have pace on the counter attack.
Controlling those transitions is the key for the home team, but it may be another tight, competitive fixture like the last two have been for Manchester United.
Crystal Palace have put the clean sheets together away from home, which is impressive and so backing the under 2.5 goals option is the play here in what could be a fixture decided by a solitary strike.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Under 2.5 Goals at 2.00 with BetFred
