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Kobbie Mainoo is now firmly settled back in as a Manchester United starter, and continues to offer balance to the team.
Young talent Kobbie Mainoo has spent 2026 making Ruben Amorim look foolish for deciding to barely play him over the first half of the season.
Mainoo only needed one game in the Manchester Derby to really prove his former manager wrong.
His latest performance in United’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace was a gritty display where he got another 90 minutes under his belt, and had a strong defensive impact.
Our top rated Man Utd players vs Palace – What would YOU change?
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Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty ImagesKobbie Mainoo’s performance vs Palace
It was not the flashiest performance from Kobbie Mainoo against Crystal Palace, he was not one of our top rated players. But he did his job very effectively.
Mainoo completed 90 per cent of his passes, 63 of 70. He managed 85 touches in total during the game.
Most impressively, Kobbie Mainoo managed 10 defensive contributions against Palace. These included four tackles and six ball recoveries.
Data shows this is the highest defensive total Mainoo has posted in a single match during the 2025/26 season, topping the nine he managed against City.
Rank Opponent Date Defensive Contributions Match Result 1 Crystal Palace (H) Mar 1, 2026 10 W 2-1 2 Manchester City (H) Jan 17, 2026 9 W 2-0 3 Fulham (H) Feb 1, 2026 7 W 3-2 4 Arsenal (A) Jan 25, 2026 6 W 3-2 5 West Ham (A) Feb 10, 2026 5 D 1-1
Mainoo’s game was not faultless. He posted only a 50 per cent success rate with his duels, winning six of 12.
His one shot at goal missed the target.
But he was persistent and managed to create two goal scoring chances during the game.
What is YOUR verdict on Kobbie Mainoo’s performance for Man Utd vs Palace?
Getty Images Mainoo locking down midfield role
In addition to starting every single game under Michael Carrick, Kobbie Mainoo is completing almost all of them.
This was his third 90 minutes in a row, and sixth out of seven under Carrick.
The one exception was the win over Tottenham, when he played 89 minutes instead of 90.
It is clear that he is part of Michael Carrick’s first choice set up, due to the way he offers balance to the team. His performance against Palace was a demonstration of that.
Prove us wrong… Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes are the best midfield trio in the Premier League
There is not another trio we would swap them for!
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