Man Utdvs.Crystal Palace

The hosts are sitting in second place in the WSL table, while the visitors are languishing at the bottom of the standings.

Match preview

Man United are set to turn their focus back to league action after sweeping past third-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers in last Saturday's fifth-round clash.

Elisabeth Terland, Leah Galton, Aoife Mannion and Ella Toone all found the net alongside a Mared Griffiths brace to fire Man United to a dominant 6-0 victory, setting up a quarter-final meeting with second-tier Sunderland.

While they are still in the hunt to retain the FA Cup, Man United have their work cut out to win their first WSL title despite putting themselves in second place with five consecutive league victories.

With nine games left to play, Man United are sitting seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea after collecting 30 points from 13 matches,

The Red Devils are one of three teams yet to lose a WSL home match this season (W4, D2), and they will look to maintain that impressive record in their final outing before the international break.

Palace are languishing at the foot of the WSL table after winning one, drawing three and losing nine of their 13 matches this season.

While they are in a perilous position, the Eagles would have taken confidence from the fact they managed to salvage a point in their derby clash against Brighton earlier this month.

My Cato netted an 88th-minute equaliser to cancel a Lily Woodham own goal, moving Laura Kaminski's side to within three points of Leicester City in 11th position.

Palace followed that result with a successful outing in last Sunday's FA Cup clash against second-tier Newcastle United, with Ashleigh Weerden and Abbie Larkin grabbing a goal apiece to clinch a 2-0 victory and set up a quarter-final clash with Chelsea.

The Eagles will know they will face a much tougher test in their league clash with Man United, especially as they will have their work cut out to keep the Red Devils at bay due to the fact they have the WSL's worst defensive record with 35 goals conceded.

Manchester United Women Women's Super League form:

L

W

W

W

W

W

Manchester United Women form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Women Women's Super League form:

L

L

L

L

L

D

Crystal Palace Women form (all competitions):

Team News

Man United are unable to call upon defender Evie Rabjohn and midfielder Lisa Naalsund due to knee and ankle injuries respectively.

After making some changes for the cup win over Wolves, Marc Skinner is likely to recall Jayde Riviere, Gabby George, Dominique Janssen and Celine Bizet.

Terland will continue to lead the line for the Red Devils, having scored seven goals in 17 competitive appearances this season.

As for Palace, they are without the injured duo of Hayley Nolan and Aimee Everett, while it remains to be seen whether January addition Aniek Nouwen will be ready to feature in the matchday squad.

Allyson Swaby could retain her place after making her Palace debut last weekend, while Kaminski could be tempted to recall Molly Sharpe and Cato.

Elise Hughes will provide a useful option off the bench after returning from a long injury absence to appear as a late substitute against Newcastle.

Manchester United Women possible starting lineup:

Tullis-Joyce; Riviere, Le Tissier, Turner, George; Miyazawa, Janssen; Bizet, Toone, Galton; Terland

Crystal Palace Women possible starting lineup:

Majasaari; Sharpe, Swaby, Veje, Green, Woodham; Cato, Potter, Gejl; Stengel, Weerden

We say: Manchester United Women 2-0 Crystal Palace Women

Written by

Ben Sully

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