Two reasons why Christian Eriksen starts for Manchester United vs Crystal Palace

Manchester United head to London in solid form, having netted ten goals in their last two matches.

Erik ten Hag’s side comfortably beat Southampton in the Premier League, followed by a dominant 7-0 win over Barnsley in the Carabao Cup third round.

Their attention now shifts back to league action as they prepare to face Crystal Palace, who are currently 16th in the table and still seeking their first win of the season.

However, Selhurst Park holds painful memories for Ten Hag, who was defeated 4-0 at the stadium late in the 2023/24 season.

For this return fixture, Ten Hag has opted to start Joshua Zirkzee, making several changes from the midweek victory over Barnsley, despite Rasmus Højlund’s return to the squad.

Why Eriksen starts again

Christian Eriksen started two games in a row for United and is now set to make his third consecutive start at Palace.

It was another somewhat surprising decision from Ten Hag, with many hoping that new signing Manuel Ugarte would be afforded his first Premier League start.

Instead, Ten Hag has explained that there are two main reasons why Eriksen continues in the team.

The Dutch manager has suggested that he does not want to interrupt the midfield after solid back-to-back performances but also stresses that Ugarte still needs time to settle into his new club.

“That is one of the reasons, yeah,” replied Ten Hag when asked if he wanted to keep the team similar to recent wins.

“There is a connection [from] last week and I didn’t want to interrupt this.

“But also, Manuel [Ugarte] needs some time to integrate, to get used to English football. It will come but, of course, we want to keep the connection in the midfield.

“A decision against Manuel, definitely not. He will be great for us and we hope to integrate him slowly but in a good way into the team.”

The game will kick off at 17:30 BST and be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.

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