EPL Betting – United Host Palace in Must-Win

Crystal Palace (+620) at Manchester United (-208), Draw (+309)

Manchester United were unceremoniously booted from the Champions League in the Group Stage this year. If they’re going to get back to Europe’s top club competition, they’ll need a top-four finish in the Premier League. Currently sitting fifth (four points back of Man City and Arsenal), the team faces a must-win this Wednesday when Crystal Palace travels to Old Trafford (3:00 PM Eastern).

With just five fixtures left on the schedule, United are running out of time to catch their rivals and vault into the top quartet. They held serve last weekend, beating Aston Villa (1-0 home) for their third win in the last four. But City did likewise, earning an impressive 3-0 away victory over Chelsea. Arsenal, on the other hand, let two valuable points slip away in a 1-1 home draw with Palace.

United would be further up the standings this season if manager Louis Van Gaal could find some offense. His team is the lowest scoring squad among the top eight in the table, averaging just 1.2 goals per game. The Red Devils haven’t managed to score more than once in six straight.

Crystal Palace struggle even more on offense, though, with just 36 goals in 34 matches. There scoring woes have them sitting 16th in the table (39 points), but they do have a substantial nine-point lead over Sunderland for the last relegation spot. Currently with 39 points, they have a nine point lead over Sunderland, the team with the last relegation spot.

Unsurprisingly, the first meeting between United and Palace, back in October, ended up scoreless. Not much has changed for either club since then, but United should be able to muster at least one tally at Old Trafford. After all, they’ve won four straight EPL games against Palace at home.

Pick: Man United (-208).

(Photo Credit: Matt Janzer CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)