Crystal's Palace travel to Old Trafford this afternoon to take on a United side that look to be on the up after three straight wins and just one loss in 2025 after seven games played.
Ruben's Reds have found some form that they so desperately needed but will have to somehow try to continue that against a side that usually has the Red Devils' number.
Palace are always a tough nut to crack and I expect nothing less this time round as well.
Predicted Lineup
Amorim does sometimes like to ring the changes and I would expect some from the win over FCSB on Thursday night.
I actually found it hard to predict because there's so many options for the manager as there are many players who are performing well at the moment. This is the side I think he'll go with though:
Onana will come back in goal although should he, is the question.
Martinez, Maguire to come back as part of the back three with Yoro on the right. De Ligt to sit this one out.
Mazraoui is the other player that I believe will have to make way simply because he and De Ligt both played the full 90 on Thursday and while the Moroccan always starts in the league, I just can't see the manager leaving certain others out.
I wouldn't be surprised if either did start though.
I'v brought Ugarte back in as CDM as he was rested for Thursday's win. Bruno to partner him and Dalot to be on the left. After his goal, I doubt that Amorim will drop him whilst he's on a high. This means that Amad will start on the right after only playing for half the game last time out.
The same for Garnacho who I believe has to start given his form and his ability to make things happen. Mainoo is HIM at the moment and thanks to a man of the match display against FCSB with a goal and assist, he is another who surely has to be in the XI and as a CAM, where he looked more at home than any other match this season.
Zirkzee to come back in as striker for Hojlund.
Approach
As we are at home, Amorim will want his team to have majority of the ball, which is what I think will happen. Palace aren't a side known for being possession-based so we should have more of the ball.
A quick start out of the blocks is also required as we are one of the worst teams when it comes to how we set the tempo.
United almost always begin games at a snail's pace and continue that tempo all game and only seem to come to life after they have a reason to, like if they are behind in the game.
The last match at Fulham was a boring watch as we were terrible throughout. That late winner at least made that game worthwhile but facing another good team who have beaten us quite a lot over recent years, should we start off slowly, we will most likely be punished.
That would then make it a harder game so the first goal is all important.
We do build up from the back a lot better thanks to Martinez's ability on the ball. His eye for a pass through the lines or over the top is so key for us to go from defence to attack in one pass.
The butcher has become one of our most creative players due to this passing ability. He is also now scoring and assisting as in our last league game, he got the late winner at Fulham, albeit a little lucky with that deflection.
That was his second goal this season after the opener at Anfield.
Should Amorim also pick that predicted lineup, we will have more attackers on the field which while it may leave us a little open at times, will do us a lot of good going forward.
In the second half at FCSB, we had all of Amad, Bruno, Eriksen, Garnacho, Mainoo and Hojlund and with Dalot being more attacking, meant that we had just the three defenders on the field.
How we went forward in that win was not something we've done a lot this season and particularly under Amorim who usually goes with the five defenders. I wouldn't put it past him to do that again but I think it's about time he start to be a bit more expansive.
Form
United's form in recent weeks have picked up a bit as we've won two, lost two, and drawn one in our last five in the league. However, in all competitions, we have wn three on the bounce: two in the Europa League and the win over Fulham last week.
Three wins in a row is not something we've managed this season. United also have two clean sheets in their last two which is something else we've not done in a while. We hadn't actually kept one since the 4-0 win over Everton at the start of December.
Now we have two in a row.
Our record this year is also not bad as in seven matches, we have five wins, one draw and one loss scoring 12 times and conceding 8.
This all puts us 5 points behind the top 10 but more importantly 13 above the drop zone!
WE'RE STAYING UP LADS! WE'RE STAYING UP 🙌
On the flip side to all this recent positivity is the dreadful home form. United have still lost more (6) than they've won (5) at Old Trafford with the only draw coming against Chelsea early in the campaign meaning we are 11th in the home table.
The GD of -3 is absolutely awful but all this gives us 16 points at home. Our last home game in the league was also the 3-1 loss to Brighton 😬.
Palace
They are always a team that gives anyone a run for their money regardless of the form of both sides but for some reason, the Eagles seem to come alive whenever they play in Manchester whether it be in the Red half or Blue.
Oliver Glasner's side are actually one spot and 2 points behind United meaning a win for them would take them above us.
In their 23 matches, the Eagles have six wins, nine draws (the joint second-most) and eight losses which is actually two fewer than United. They also have the same goal difference of -4 but do have the better recent record.
Three of their total six wins have come in their last five. With those three victories, Palace also have one draw and one loss which came in their last game, a 2-1 defeat at home to Brentford in their last five.
In the away table, they sit in a respectable 9th which is three spots higher than United. Their three losses on the road is only bettered by Arsenal (2) and Liverpool (0) showing what a difficult team they are to face away from Selhurst Park.
Another impressive factor to their away form is the amount of goals conceded. Palace have let in just 11 on their travels which is the fewest in the league!
That is some record.
In fact, it gets even better as they've only lost one of their last eight games away from home. That was a 1-0 defeat to Forest, in OCTOBER!
Since that loss, they've drawn at Villa and high-flying Bournemouth, picked up a 3-1 win at Brighton, and won both of their last two 2-0 at Leicester and West Ham.
I'm starting to feel like we could lose this game, not that I was confident beforehand, but this record just makes me feel like defeat is more likely.
They also have players like Eze, Nketiah and Mateta who can all cause us problems. Mateta in particular has found form as he has 4 goals in his last four.
Recent Meetings
Since 2019 in the Premier League, there have been 11 meetings between the sides. That time has seen three draws, three United wins and FIVE victories to Crystal Palace 😳.
THREE of those five came at Old Trafford 🤯.
They also did the double over us and haven't lost any of the last three 🙃.
The last time we actually beat them in the league was in 22/23 as we came out on top 2-1 in the game where Casemiro received a controversial red card.
The most recent meeting was actually one of United's best performances this season with the only thing missing being the goals. That 0-0 was one of the most dominant I've seen from us in a long time.
If I wasn't concerned before, I am now as this record is quite one-sided.
Prediction
You really don't know what you're going to get with us.
We could dominate, we could be dominated, we could play crap and win, we could play well and lose, anything is possible.
Considering that both sides are in good spaces at the moment, I can see it being a tight 1-1 draw. Is that necessarily a bad result?
Background player image: Kobbie Mainoo | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)