PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker looks ahead to Wednesday’s Premier League game between CRYSTAL PALACE v MANCHESTER UNITED with FACTMAN stats and a recommended BETDAQ bet.
CRYSTAL PALACE V MANCHESTER UNITED
8pm We have midweek Premier League action to enjoy on BETDAQ Betting Exchange this week as Crystal Palace host Manchester United. Without being too dramatic about the importance of this game, I have to say I feel it’s a must win game for United. They can’t afford to drop points here after winning the Manchester Derby in dramatic fashion at the weekend. United fans would have been disappointed to see Arsenal win the North London Derby at the weekend, because if Spurs won I would have said United were bang in the title race.
As things stand, they are definitely in the mix to make a challenge, but it’s hard to see them bridging the nine point gap to Arsenal now halfway through the season. That being said, Gary Neville said on Super Sunday that he expects Manchester City to win the title and United to finish second, with Arsenal in third! With Arsenal now odds on to win the title, it’s hard to see them dropping down to third. From a United point of view though, things are going very well. The side are clearly playing good football and ten Hag has definitely improved the clubs standards behind the scenes.
Although we got a lot of debate around the United equaliser at the weekend, an important stat not talked about enough was the fact United kept City down to an xG of just 0.67. That was the lowest xG figure Manchester City recorded in the Premier League all season, and you have to admit ten Hag had when this United side very solid. Casemiro and Varane have had a big impact in that regard, but Fred was also impressive on Saturday. In the past United would throw in an impressive performance against a top side, and then drop points against a mid-to-low table side the weekend after, but I don’t see ten Hag letting the squad switch off like managers of the past.
It’s a good time to meet Crystal Palace too. They returned from the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Bournemouth who are long odds on to get relegated this season, but since then they got hammered by Spurs, lost to Southampton in the FA Cup and got beaten by Chelsea at the weekend – breaking Chelsea’s poor run! As I said in my preview of that game, if you were Graham Potter looking at the fixture list you would have been delighted to see your next game was Crystal Palace at home.
United have been on fire since the World Cup, they had a pretty easy fixture list but that has built confidence, and they were very impressive at the weekend in the Manchester Derby. As I highlighted above, the stats speak for themselves on what an impressive performance it was. Crystal Palace are conceding an average xG of 1.7 per game this season, and while they are too good to be involved in an open relegation race, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t been playing poor football this season.
Very similar to backing Chelsea at the weekend, I feel this is a good time to back United and be against this average Crystal Palace side. Unlike Chelsea though, United come into this game in an excellent place – they are playing impressive football and look full of confidence. With everyone fit, I feel United are worth a Max Bet at the odds here. The 1.88 looks cracking value to beat an average Palace side. We landed two Max Bets at the weekend, and we were unlucky not to land a third on Sunday with Over 2.5 goals in the North London Derby too after two reasonably early goals – but we can land another Max Bet here with United!
The Striker Says:
Five points win Manchester United to beat Crystal Palace at 1.88 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/CryMun
FACTMAN MATCH STATS
● Crystal Palace won this exact fixture 1-0 on the final day of last season, their first home league win over Manchester United since May 1991 (D4 L9 in between).
● Manchester United have lost three of their last six league games against Crystal Palace (W2 D1), as many as they had in their previous 31 (W22 D6). They lost 1-0 against the Eagles last time out in May but have never lost consecutive league games against them before.
● Manchester United have lost three of their last five Premier League games in London (W1 D1), as many as they had in their previous 20 visits to the capital (W11 D6). However, they did win their last such game 2-1 at Fulham thanks to a 90th minute winner from Alejandro Garnacho.
● Crystal Palace have lost their last two home Premier League matches without scoring a goal and shipping seven themselves. They haven’t lost three in a row at Selhurst Park without scoring since September 2017.
● Manchester United have won five of their last eight away Premier League games (D1 L2), after losing seven in a row before this. They are looking for three consecutive away league wins for the first time since a 10- game winning run between June and December 2020.
● Crystal Palace have lost by 3+ goals without scoring in their last two home Premier League games (0-3 vs Fulham, 0-4 vs Spurs). Only two teams in Premier League history have done so in three home games in a row within a single season: West Brom (four in a row in 2020-21) and Norwich (three in 2022).
● Manchester United have won each of their last nine games in all competitions, their longest such run since January 2017. They last had a longer run between January and February 2009 (11 in a row).
● Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has scored three Premier League goals against Manchester United – one more will make him the outright top scorer against them among players to have previously played for the Red Devils in the competition.
● Man Utd’s Christian Eriksen has been directly involved in seven goals in 11 Premier League appearances against Crystal Palace, scoring three and assisting four times. In fact, Eriksen has had a hand in a goal in each of his last three Premier League outings at Selhurst Park (one goal, two assists).
● Marcus Rashford has scored in each of his last seven appearances for Manchester United in all competitions, netting eight goals in total. The last Manchester United player to find the net in eight consecutive appearances was Ruud van Nistelrooy in May 2003 (10 in a row).MoN
