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How Manchester United could line up against Crystal Palace

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Manchester United could line up for Wednesday night's Premier League trip to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may have one eye on a season-defining upcoming run of fixtures when his side travel to face Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

The Red Devils take on Manchester City on Sunday before games against AC Milan (twice), West Ham United and Leicester City in three different competitions, meaning that the visit to Palace is one of their easiest matches on paper this month.

Solskjaer could therefore use the opportunity to rest players where possible, with the likes of Eric Bailly, Alex Telles, Dean Henderson and Nemanja Matic pushing for inclusion after sitting out at the weekend.

Daniel James and Scott McTominay both overcame slight niggles to start in Sunday's goalless draw with Chelsea, but the latter in particular has picked up a few knocks recently and Solskjaer may give him the night off at Selhurst Park.

Donny van de Beek was also included in the matchday squad at Stamford Bridge despite slight concerns over his fitness, and he will be desperate for more game time against the team he scored against on his Man United debut in September.

The main injury doubt heading into this match is Edinson Cavani, who once again missed out at the weekend due to a muscle problem and will be assessed ahead of kickoff in midweek.

Solskjaer has Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial as options through the middle, but Cavani returned to training on Tuesday and is in contention to return to the side for this match.

There could be a temptation to rest Bruno Fernandes, who has had a direct hand in 40 goals from his 40 Premier League appearances so far, but has failed to register a goal or an assist in his last three trips to the capital.

United have generally struggled to reach their usual standard when Fernandes is not on the pitch, though, so Solskjaer is likely to keep the Portuguese playmaker in his starting lineup for this one too.

Paul Pogba remains sidelined for the visitors, while Juan Mata and Phil Jones are also injured.

Manchester United possible starting lineup: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Telles; Matic, Fred; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani

> Click here to see how Crystal Palace could line up for this contest


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12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
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