Manchester United travel to Crystal Palace today looking to bounce back after defeat to Everton at Old Trafford.
Mason Mount came on as a substitute during the defeat to Everton on Monday night(Image: Getty Images)
Ruben Amorim needs a response from his team after the defeat at home to Everton. Against ten men, United should have won but they were lacklustre for large spells and were deservedly beaten by David Moyes’ men.
Such a defeat requires the manager to take stock of his options available to him and look to make changes in order to improve matters. For this reason, Mason Mount could be recalled to the starting XI after a good second half display when he replaced Noussair Mazraoui.
The change pushed Amad into the right wing-back role and gave United more of a threat down that side. Considering the early nature of this change on Monday, we can expect this to be adopted from the start at Selhurst Park this weekend. The left flank is harder to call.
Patrick Dorgu started but didn’t impress and his replacement Diogo Dalot did fine but he was not needed to defend as much. Both men struggled offensively and the left side was a bit of a shambles.
It remains clear Dalot is not comfortable on the left and if Dorgu is to settle in this team then he needs to be playing regularly. The other notable talking point with the team selection comes in attack.
Joshua Zirkzee’s inclusion was a surprise to many supporters in midweek considering he has been overlooked this season. With Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha both out, it is unlikely Amorim will choose to go strikerless at Palace so keeping Zirkzee as the starting centre-forward seems likely.
Had one of his headers gone in during the defeat to Everton, we would be looking back at his performance more kindly. As it was, Zirkzee is under pressure to prove Amorim right if he’s given another chance.
Predicted XI vs Crystal Palace