In the pre-match of Crystal Palace-Manchester Uniteda few minutes before the kick-off of the match that closes the day in the Premier League, the coach of Red Devils Erik the Hag spoke to Sky Sports UK. Starting from the choice to keep him on the bench Markus Rashford after his resounding performance in the Carabao Cup: “No, it’s not a difficult decision. We have to rotate, we have a lot of games to cover and we have to let Alejandro (Garnacho, ed.) play. We’ve seen that he has a great finishing ability, he’s scored a lot of goals and provided assists. He’s only made his debut once this season.”
On players returning from injuries: “Yes, that’s true. But they’re not at their best yet, they need games to get into the rhythm of the game. They’re not ready for 90 minutes, but it’s a pleasure to have them in the team and it will be a benefit. If we integrate everyone, like Manuel Ugarte, he needs a bit of time. Hojlund didn’t do pre-season, Mount is back, that’s a good sign. We need it because we have to cover a lot of games.”
On Crystal Palace’s strengths: “Not just the three players up front. First of all, they are very aggressive and have a great transition on both sides: they make a lot of tactical fouls. In attack, not only the three up front are a threat, but also the full-backs.”
The official formations
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Lacroix, Guehi, Richards; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Nketiah, E. Eze; Mateta. Trainer: Glasner.
Manchester United (4-3-1-2): Onana; Mazraoui, L.Martinez, De Ligt, Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen; Amad Traoré, Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee. Available: Bayindir, Evans, Maguire, Casemiro, Ugarte, Mount, Antony, Hojlund, Rashford. Trainer: Ten Hag.
Saturday 21st September
1.30pm West Ham – Chelsea 0-3
4.00pm Aston Villa – Wolves 3-1
16:00 Fulham – Newcastle 3-1
16:00 Leicester – Everton 1-1
16:00 Liverpool – Bournemouth 3-0
4pm Southampton 1-1 Ipswich
16:00 Tottenham – Brentford 3-1
6.30pm Crystal Palace – Manchester United
Sunday 22nd September
3pm Brighton – Nottingham
5.30pm Manchester City – Arsenal
Classification
Liverpool 12*
Man City 12
Aston Villa 12*
Chelsea 10*
Arsenal 10
Newcastle 10
Brighton 8
Fulham 8*
NottinghamForest 8
Tottenham 7*
Man Utd 6
Brentford 6*
Bournemouth 5*
West Ham 4*
Leicester 3*
Ipswich 3*
Crystal Palace 2
Southampton 1*
Everton 1*
Wolverhampton 1*
*one more game