Crystal Palace v Manchester United. Gabriele Marcotti’s prediction (VIDEO)

https://youtu.be/ezTBALkEHV8

There isn’t too much in the way of injuries here: Joe Ledley is still out for Palace, while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Luke Shaw remain on the sidelines for United. But this is really nothing new, as these guys have all been out for a while and their respective sides have learnt to cope without them, thus their absence won’t have an impact here. United are uber favourites with all of the bookmakers, but this seem somewhat overstated, and I don’t think they should be. This is simply the usual “big name” effect, where certain teams are generally a very short price regardless of form.

This isn’t to say that Palace have been particularly good of late. In fact, It’s true that they’ve been awful in the second half of the season, but the focus for them really has been entirely on the FA Cup. And I also think that the players like Yannick Bolasie or Wilfred Zaha match up really-really well with opponents like Daley Blind for example.

Mourinho’s shadow is hanging over Louis Van Gaal and indeed Man United haven’t been impressive in the league or in the FA Cup. They’ve had an easy run to this final and played against only two Premier League sides on their way to Wembley. They needed a last-minute goal against Everton and a replay vs West Ham. So I think there is value in backing Palace with +1 goal on the handicap at 11/10 or better yet Palace outright at 4/1.