Manchester United will take on Crystal Palace at the Old Trafford in a midweek English Premier League (EPL) fixture on Wednesday. The Red Devils have now won four out of their last five games and that has given them a major boost ahead of their clash against The Eagles.
With Arsenal struggling and their archrivals Manchester City drawing against Newcastle United, United have a golden opportunity to inch closer to the top four in the Premier League points table, so much so that they will be just one point adrift fourth-placed Arsenal and two points behind the third-placed City.
Louis van Gaal, who is happy with the recent results of his side, knows the importance of this game against Palace at home. They can think of nothing but a win over Alan Pardew's side at the Old Trafford on Wednesday as it will help them push for that spot in the UEFA Champions League in the next season.
"This game against Crystal Palace is very important. We have to win, we need to win, so it's much more important to win this game than, for example, for Arsenal of Manchester City," Van Gaal re-iterated the fact, Manchester Evening News reported.
"They have that gap of four points for us. It's too important to rotate because rotation or freshness for the semi-final? No, we have to win."
United will play the FA Cup semi-final against Everton at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday and on the other hand, Palace to will play Watford in the second semi-final of the competition.
Both teams will look to secure a win ahead of their semi-final fixtures in the upcoming weekend.
The Eagles have remained unbeaten in their last four games and the recent one against Arsenal (1-1) on Sunday. They have also picked up five crucial points in a span of eight days.
Pardew is hopeful that his side will keep the momentum going against a resurgent United at the Old Trafford on Wednesday.
"I don't think anyone will look at our side and worry about us putting an understrength team out when they see the team sheet. It's been a long time since we have got momentum and I think that is more important than rest. So I want to keep the momentum of this team. Certainly to the end of the season," the official website of Crystal Palace quoted Pardew as saying.
Probable lineups:
Manchester United: De Gea; Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Blind, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Lingard, Mata, Martial; Rooney.
Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Mariappa, Delaney, Souare; McArthur, Jedinak, Zaha, Puncheon, Sako; Adebayor.
Where to watch live:
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace is scheduled for 8 p.m. GMT (12:30 a.m. IST, 3 p.m. ET) start. In India, viewers can watch it on Star Sports 1/HD1 with live streaming option on Starsports.com.
Unfortunately, there will be no live TV coverage of this game in the UK.
Viewers in the US can watch Manchester United vs Crystal Palace EPL game on WestwoodOne Sports,while the game can also be live streamed on NBC Live Extra.
TSN 4 is the place to be to watch the Manchester United vs Crystal Palace live in Canada, while TSN TV will provide the live stream option.
Bein Sports Arabia 1 and Bein Sports Arabia 1HD will broadcastManchester United vs Crystal Palace live in the Middle East and North Africa, while the action can also be live streamed on Bein Sports Connect.
Australia viewers can watch the Manchester United vs Crystal Palace live on Fox Sports 3, while the online live stream option is on Foxtel Play.
Football fans in the African countries can watch the Manchester United vs Crystal Palace live on Supersport 5 Africa.
