Manchester United play host to Crystal Palace next Tuesday in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
United proceeded straight through to this stage of the competition due to their European commitments whilst Palace had to come from two goals behind to beat Championship newcomers Plymouth Argyle in the second round. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a second-half hat-trick to spare his side's blushes.
The Red Devils come into the fixture amid a tumultuous time on and off the pitch, but got back to winning ways at Burnley at the weekend. Palace, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw at home to London rivals Fulham.
Ahead of this midweek clash, Football FanCast has decided to take a deeper dive into the history behind the fixture and any key stats that stand out.
Man United v Crystal Palace: What's their head-to-head record?
United have recorded a whopping 40 wins over Palace throughout their 145-year history and have only conceded defeat on 10 occasions across 63 meetings.
Considering they are one of the country's most decorated sides, it's hardly surprising.
Manchester United wins
40
Draws
13
Crystal Palace wins
10
Man United v Crystal Palace: What's their record at Old Trafford?
As you'd expected, the Red Devils are truly dominant in this head-to-head clash. Old Trafford is an imposing ground to play at and not many, if any, sides will come out on top in this statistic.
Interestingly, three of Palace's five wins at United have come in this century, with two of those in 2019 and 2020. So recent outings in Manchester have certainly brought more fortune than in times gone by and Roy Hodgson can point to that for belief ahead of Tuesday's game.
Manchester United wins
23
Draws
3
Crystal Palace wins
5
Man United v Crystal Palace: What's their record at Selhurst Park?
United continue to dominate Palace, even on their travels to South London. Though, it is a lot more even as the Eagles have avoided defeat 13 times across 27 meetings.
The Selhurst Park atmosphere is widely known as one of the best in the country and the passionate fans certainly rally behind their troops.
Home advantage has clearly not exactly evened the games for the Eagles, though, as shown in the head-to-head table below.
Manchester United wins
14
Draws
8
Crystal Palace wins
5
Man United v Crystal Palace: What's their record at neutral grounds?
United have never lost against Palace at a neutral venue and have won three of the five fixtures. They've met each other twice at Wembley in the FA Cup final, and on both occasions, the Old Trafford club have come out on top.
The 2016 final saw Jesse Lingard fire home a well-struck half-volley in extra time to win his side's 12th FA Cup title. It was Louis van Gaal's final match in charge before he was sacked.
The previous FA Cup final meeting came back in May 1990. The clash ended 3-3 after extra time and a replay was needed to determine the winner.
Five days later, United secured a 1-0 victory on Wembley's storied stage thanks to a second-half Lee Martin strike.
Manchester United wins
3
Draws
2
Crystal Palace wins
0
Man United v Crystal Palace: Which team has scored more goals?
United have scored exactly double the goals Palace have in this fixture, which is to be expected given the head-to-head data. In total, across the 63 meetings, the pair have scored a combined 168 goals.
That averages out to 2.6 goals a game.
Manchester United goals
112
Crystal Palace goals
56
Man United v Crystal Palace: What happened in last season's fixtures?
The first clash between the two sides produced a dramatic ending at Selhurst Park back in January of this year.
Bruno Fernandes' first-half strike looked set to be the winner for much of the game until Michael Olise netted a beautiful curling free-kick in stoppage time to deny the away side three points.
Erik ten Hag's men missed the chance to go second above their noisy neighbours Manchester City whilst a point for the hosts moved them on to 23 points in 12th place.
The reverse fixture took place just over two weeks later at Old Trafford but this time United were able to survive the late Palace pressure to secure a 2-1 victory.
Fernandes opened the scoring before Marcus Rashford added a second in the 62nd minute to continue his rich vein of form in front of goal.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute when summer signing Casemiro was sent off for violent conduct and shortly after Jeffrey Schlupp pulled one back to make the final 15 minutes nervy.
The hard-fought United win lifted them to third in the table above Newcastle United whilst The Eagles remained in 12th.
Man United v Crystal Palace: What is United's biggest win?
30th September 2017 – Manchester United 4-0 Crystal Palace: United have recorded a few wins over Palace by a four-goal margin but we'll go with their latest one.
The Red Devils, managed by Jose Mourinho at the time, thumped the South Londoners 4-0 to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
The win moved them on to 19 points from a possible 21 and joint top with rivals Manchester City, who went on to win the title with a record-breaking 100 points.
Marouane Fellaini netted a brace whilst Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku both found themselves on the score sheet.
Palace, on the other hand, continued their atrocious start to the season, as they lost a seventh game on the spin without scoring a single goal.
Veteran manager Roy Hodgson replaced Frank de Boer after just four league games in charge. He managed to guide the Eagles to an 11th-placed finish that season, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Mourinho led his side to a second-placed finish, which he famously described as one of the best achievements of his career due to the problems behind the scenes at the club.
Man United v Crystal Palace: What is Palace's biggest win?
16th December 1972 – Crystal Palace 5-0 Manchester United: Palace's record win against United came back in December 1972 at Selhurst Park.
Paddy Mulligan and Don Rodgers both netted braces whilst Alan Whittle also got himself on the score sheet. Though, despite the demolition job on United, Bert Head's side were relegated to the second tier that season whilst their opposition finished in 18th and survived.
Man United v Crystal Palace: What are the recent results?
4th February 2023 – Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace: The aforementioned last meeting between the pair took place at Old Trafford, where the hosts secured a hard-fought victory thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
18th January 2023 – Crystal Palace 1-1 Manchester United: The reverse fixture, just over two weeks prior, produced late drama at Selhurst Park after Michael Olise's well-struck stoppage time free-kick cancelled out Fernandes' opener to settle the spoils.
22nd May 2022 – Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United: Palace ended their 2021/22 camping with a home victory over Ralf Rangnick's Manchester United side, who finished on a Premier League club-record-low points tally of 58 in sixth place.
Former United winger Wilfried Zaha scored the only goal of the match to secure the three points for Patrick Vieira's Eagles, who finished in 12th on 48 points.
5th December 2021 – Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace: Rangnick's men moved up to sixth, beyond rivals Arsenal, thanks to Fred's 77th-minute winner. It was the first time his side had won back-to-back league games since mid-September.
Meanwhile, the defeat for Palace was their third on the bounce as they dropped to 13th.
3rd March 2021 – Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United: The Red Devils were held to a goalless draw at Selhurst Park, their third in a row to dent already slim title hopes. The visitors registered just one shot on target whilst Roy Hodgson's side only managed two in a rather drab encounter.
Man United v Crystal Palace: When is it?
Manchester United host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Tuesday, 26th September at 8pm UK time. United may be slight favourites heading into this one, but they have been shaky of late and much could be depend on the team Erik ten Hag decides to field.
The third-round clash will be his side's third fixture in six days following their games against Bayern Munich and Burnley. So perhaps the fixture's importance will lie greater with Palace, who will see the competition as a viable route to silverware.
The Eagles have never won a major trophy in their 162-year history so Roy Hodgson will likely name a strong 11 capable of defeating the hosts.
Palace have opened up their Premier League account with two wins, two draws and two losses, leaving them in 10th place, one point behind their opponents.
Odsonne Édouard has kicked off his campaign with five goals in seven outings across all competitions and could be the danger man for the visitors.
United, meanwhile, have made a poor start to their season, losing three of their opening six league games. They sit ninth in the league table on nine points following their victory at Turf Moor.
