Manchester United will be bidding to make it three victories from their opening three pre-season matches when they take on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
The Red Devils have beaten Liverpool and Melbourne Victory in their two friendlies this summer, while Palace will enter this contest off the back of a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in Singapore on Friday.
Man United opened their preparations for the 2022-23 campaign with a 4-0 victory over Liverpool last Tuesday before recording a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory three days later, and they now have two more games in Australia against fellow Premier League sides Palace and Aston Villa.
Head coach Erik ten Hag will not be getting too carried away with the two pre-season successes, but there have been plenty of positive signs, and the fact that the team have managed to score eight goals in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence will have pleased with the new management team.
Anthony Martial has now scored in back-to-back matches, while new signing Tyrell Malacia has impressed at left-back, and the Red Devils will now round off their tour against Palace and Villa before heading back to Europe for friendlies against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
Man United will then open their 2022-23 Premier League campaign at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on August 7, and Ten Hag will hope to have a couple more new players on board by that point.
Christian Eriksen was confirmed as the team’s second signing of the summer on Friday, while a deal for Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez is said to be on the verge of going through, but neither player will join up with the squad in Australia, with their debuts instead potentially coming against either Atletico or Rayo.
Palace, meanwhile, have played four friendlies this summer, drawing with Accrington Stanley and beating Millwall before suffering a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in their opening game of their pre-season tour on Friday.
Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah were on the scoresheet for the Reds, but it is difficult to read too much into the defeat, as the Eagles have made the trip to Australia without a number of important players.
Marc Guehi, Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Christian Benteke, Will Hughes and Cheikhou Kouyate are among the individuals not to make the trip due to fitness and visa issues, meaning that the Premier League outfit only have 10 senior players available on the tour.
The majority of those to stay behind were actually in action against Ipswich Town on Saturday, with Benteke on the scoresheet in what proved to be a 4-2 victory, so it is a difficult pre-season for head coach Patrick Vieira, as his full squad will not be back together until the latter stages of the month.
Palace, who have signed three new players during the current window, bringing in Cheick Doucoure, Sam Johnstone and Malcolm Ebiowei, are building towards their Premier League opener against Arsenal on August 5, and the capital side will be bidding to improve on last season’s 12th-place finish in England’s top flight.
Manchester United Club Friendlies 1 form:
WW
Manchester United form (all competitions):
DWLLWW
Crystal Palace Club Friendlies 1 form:
DWLW
Crystal Palace form (all competitions):
LWDWLW
We say: Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
Man United have been impressive in their opening two friendlies of the summer, and the Red Devils will fancy their chances of beating an understrength Palace on Tuesday. Palace’s second-half XI is likely to be a team of youngsters, and we are expecting Ten Hag’s side to be too strong here.