Jose Mourinho will be a frustrated man as his side are in the sixth place in the points table and have no chance to finish any further this season. Though the Europa League gives them a chance to qualify for the UCL next season, they will want to end this season on a high and will want to take maximum points from the game against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Palace are fresh from a 4-0 victory over Hull City in the previous game and have proven hard to beat in recent times. And Jose Mourinho is expected to field a weaker side to keep his players fit for the UEL final in less than a week’s time. So this game is far from decided and here is the predicted lineup that Mourinho might field for this tie:
Team News:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young are ruled out for the rest of the season. Marouane Fellaini picked up a hamstring injury recently and is expected to sit out this game while Timothy Fosu Mensah is expected to feature in this game, coming back from a shoulder injury.
Expected lineup (4-2-3-1):
Defense:
David de Gea has been the first choice in the league for Mourinho this season but he is expected to start the final against Ajax and could be replaced by young Joel Pereira for the final game of the season. Fosu Mensah could be thrown back into action straight away and could start at right-back while Axel Tuanzebe is expected to play in a more natural centre back role.
Phil Jones could be the senior bloke at the back for United in this tie and should partner Tuanzebe in this game. Demi Mitchell is sure to start as a left-back after Mourinho revealed as much before the game.
Image Credits: Getty Images
Midfield:
With Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba expected to start the UEL final, the experienced Michael Carrick is expected to play as the deepest of the midfielders in this game. Matthew Willock spent the last couple of games on the bench and could partner Carrick in the middle of the park.
Attack:
Spanish playmaker Juan Mata is expected to start from the right flank and will be responsible for all the creativity, playing with a bunch of junior stars. Scott McTominay should start as a number 10 and could be a player to watch out for while Zachary Dearnley is expected to start on the left-flank.
With so many youngsters in the midfield, Wayne Rooney will have to take the goal scoring responsibilities on the night and should lead the attack for United.
Here is how they could lineup:
