Will Power

Sunday, May 21, 2017

The Teams: United v Crystal Palace

Jose Mourinho has shuffled his pack with the Europa League final in mind by making seven changes to his Manchester United team, including handing debuts to Demi Mitchell and Josh Harrop, who will face Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in the final Premier League game of the season (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Reds boss has the trip to Stockholm to plan for in just three' days time against Ajax and has rung the changes for this afternoon's clash with Sam Allardyce's Palace side, as United look to end the domestic season on a high.

According to Opta, it's United's youngest starting XI in Premier League history, with an average age of 22 years and 284 days. Eight Academy graduates start, with a further four on the bench.

Joel Pereira makes his first start in the Premier League in place of the impressive Sergio Romero, who Mourinho has confirmed will start on Wednesday.

Chris Smalling picked up a "small problem" in the goalless draw with Southampton in midweek, so Eric Bailly comes into central defence alongside Phil Jones, with Tim Fosu-Mensah starting at right-back on his return from a shoulder injury. And 20-year-old Mitchell, who was on the first-team bench against both Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton and was shortlisted for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award, makes his Reds debut in the left-back position.

Marouane Fellaini has seemingly not recovered from the slight hamstring knock he picked up against the Saints, so Scott McTominay, who made his first-team debut against Arsenal recently, comes into the midfield. And Paul Pogba returns from compassionate leave as he looks to gain some fitness ahead of Wednesday's crucial clash, alongside the impressive youngster Axel Tuanzebe.

Jesse Lingard starts out wide in place of Juan Mata, while youngster Harrop, who finished top scorer for Nicky Butt's reserve side and scored a superb hat-trick in front of Mourinho last Monday, starts on the opposite flank in place of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with Wayne Rooney leading the line.

Kieran O’Hara is the Reds' substitute goalkeeper and he takes his place on the bench alongside the likes of Angel Gomes, who became the youngest player to pick up the Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year trophy at the Reds' awards night, Matthew Willock and Zachary Dearnley. Michael Carrick, Daley Blind and Anthony Martial add some experience to a youthful-looking bench.

Here are the line-ups in full:

United: Pereira, Fosu-Mensah, Bailly, Jones, Mitchell, McTominay, Tuanzebe, Pogba, Lingard, Rooney, Harrop. Substitutes: O'Hara, Blind, Carrick, Willock, Dearnley, Gomes, Martial.

Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Tomkins, Schlupp, Milivojevic, Puncheon, McArthur, Zaha, van Aanholt, Benteke. Substitutes: Speroni, Dann, Wan-Bissaka, Lee, Sako, Kaikai, Campbell.

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