Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner believes Manchester United are a much more ‘impressive’ team thanks in part to the efforts of one summer signing.
United take on Palace on Sunday looking to bounce back after a dismal 1-0 defeat to 10-man Everton last Monday.
The Red Devils looked to have turned a corner in recent weeks but were brought crashing down to earth by the Toffees and now travel to Selhurst Park – a ground they’ve not won at in over six years.
The Eagles eased to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford in their last meeting, but Glasner believes the opposition have improved greatly in the time since, in large thanks to their new signings.
‘Yes, Ruben Amorim was already in charge of the team, but also their team changed, especially their attack, that is what I am talking about,’ the Austrian said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
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‘They thought, “OK, we need more goals” and then they invested 200 million and buying three players up front and also players who can play very intense like Bryan Mbeumo.
‘For me, it is impressive to see, and we compared it, and now I think their work rate is much higher than it has been last year, and they get the reward.’
As mentioned, United restructured their attack last summer, bringing in Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Mbeumo – the latter of whom has been far the best addition.
The £71million forward has six goals and an assist in his first 13 games for the club and is well-placed to add to that tally on Sunday having recorded two goals and an assist in his last four games against Palace for Brentford.
But he won’t have much support, with Amorim revealing that once again Cunha and Sesko will miss out through injury.
Moreover, the south London side have made their best start to a Premier League season ever, currently fifth in the table, with only leaders Arsenal boasting a better defensive record.
Glasner says his side have suffered no major injury blows, adding that Marc Guehi’s half-time substitution in Thursday’s Conference League defeat at Strasbourg was pre-planned.
‘Borna Sosa will miss this game again, but Will [Hughes] doesn’t look so bad, so we’re very hopeful that he’ll be in the matchday squad. All others are fine.
‘Marc was just planned before, because he couldn’t train for two-and-a-half weeks, he had the 90 minutes last week [against Wolves], and of course he should play and he will play against Manchester United. That’s why we had to manage the minutes, so no issues with Marc.’
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