Man Utd vs Crystal Palace LIVE REACTION: Fred nets late on to give Ralf Rangnick dream first Premier League victory

PALACE XI

13 Guaita; 17 Clyne, 5 Tomkins, 6 Guehi, 3 Mitchell; 15 Schlupp, 8 Kouyate, 23 Gallagher; 9 Ayew, 11 Zaha, 20 Benteke

MAN UTD XI

1 De Gea; 20 Dalot, 2 Lindelof, 5 Maguire, 27 Telles; 39 McTominay, 17 Fred; 25 Sancho, 18 Fernandes, 10 Rashford; 7 Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo starts for Manchester United after all!!!

THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!!!

NICK OF TIME

Ralf Rangnick has taken over as interim manager of Manchester United until the end of the season, he will then undertake a role as a consultant for the next two years.

Rangnick is considered as the godfather of the 'Gegenpressing' tactic that inspired fellow German coaches Jurgen Klopp as well as Thomas Tuchel to glory.

This is a tactic that sees teams immediately fighting back for possession after losing it instead of falling back and regrouping.

The 63-year-old has previously coached the likes of Stuttgart, Hoffenheim and Schalke but reached fame during his two stints at RB Leipzig.

PALACE STATS

Crystal Palace are 11^th in the Premier League table with six points separating them from the relegation zone and are another five away from seventh place, which usually leads to Europe.

Palace have amassed three wins and four losses in all of their 14 league matches - they have also scored 19 goals and conceded 20, which is less than Manchester United.

The Eagles will like their chances at Old Trafford as they have taken seven points from their last four league meetings with United, winning twice and losing once along the way – that is as much as they'd managed in their previous 23 against today's hosts.

Patrick Vieira’s men have already experienced victory in Manchester this season as well as they beat Manchester City 2-0.

The last London side to win away against both Manchester clubs in the same campaign was Arsenal during the 1990-1991 season

MAN UTD STATS

Manchester United are seventh in the Premier League table with six points separating them from fourth place.

United have amassed six wins and five losses out of all their 14 league matches this season in which they have scored 24 times and conceded the same amount, that means David de Gea has picked up the ball from his own net more times than any other team in the top nine.

New interim boss Ralf Rangnick will want to be especially careful today as the Red Devils didn’t win either of their two games against Crystal Palace last season.

The Manchester giants haven’t gone three without a win against the Eagles since a run of four between 1925 and 1970.

And United have conceded in 15 consecutive home games across all competitions, which is their second longest ever such run, after a 21-game streak ending in March 1959

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Manchester United and Crystal Palace’s first ever encounter took place way back in 1922 during a Second Division match that saw the former winning 2-1 at home.

Since then, the two sides have faced off a total of 59 times with United amassing a majority of 38 victories, compared to Palace’s mere nine.

But the Eagles won’t be short of confidence during today’s visit as they emerged victorious from their last two trips at Old Trafford - the visitors won 3-1 last season and 2-1 the year before.

In fact, the Red Devils haven’t beaten Palace at home since 2017 when they won 4-0, they went on to lose two out of the next three times they hosted Patrick Vieira’s side

GOOD AFTENOON FROM MANCHESTER

Welcome to SunSport’s live coverage of the Premier League encounter between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

United are turning a new leaf with interim manager Ralf Rangnick taking charge for the first time after signing a six-month deal with the Red Devils.

But Rangnick is not without injury problems as Raphael Varane (hamstring), Paul Pogba (hamstring) and Edinson Cavani (tendon) are still sidelined.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also a major doubt as he hurt his knee during his signature ‘siu’ celebration against Arsenal.

Luke Shaw missed the last three games against Villarreal, Chelsea and the Gunners as he continues to recover from a head injury.

Nemanja Matic was also absent during Thursday’s win over the north Londoners due to a hamstring problem whereas Aaron Wan-Bissaka was ruled out with a hand injury and is facing a late assessment ahead of the clash against his former team.

Palace manager Patrick Vieira, on the other hand, will be without Joel Ward as he was slapped with a one-game suspension after he received his fifth booking of the season during Tuesday's 1-0 loss at Leeds.

Vieira will also be missing James McArthur due to a hamstring injury whereas Nathan Ferguson has been out since January 2020 due to several injury issues.

Joachim Andersen faces a late assessment due to a hamstring problem that forced him out of international duty with Denmark in November