Ste McGovern
Paul Merson has predicted that Manchester United will suffer their first loss under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to in-form Crystal Palace on Wednesday due to injuries.
Solskjær could be without as many as nine first-team players for the midweek clash at Selhurst Park, which isn’t even accounting for Marcus Rashford who limped through the 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
The short turnaround for the next Premier League fixture has given no time for the Manchester United players to recover, meaning the side are likely to face Palace without the services of Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Phil Jones, Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera or Antonio Valencia.
The Eagles on the other hand are coming into the fixture buoyed by a 4-1 win over Leicester City, extending their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions.
“I think they’ve got a very difficult game midweek against Crystal Palace,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“I think this is a hard game, at Palace. I just think with the injuries, I think Palace might nick that game, I really do.
“They’re key players. Some managers moan ‘oh, I’ve got four players out’ and you think ‘none of them hardly ever play’
“These are players that are first on the team sheet.
“You put these in with pen, you don’t put these in with pencil. These are going in with pen.
“So these are big players being missed, big players.