Manchester United bench Ighalo as Crystal Palace start Ayew and Zaha

Manchester United take on Crystal Palace in Thursday’s Premier League encounter clash with Odion Ighalo out of the starting XI.

The Nigerian was last handed a starter’s role against Norwich City in the FA Cup. There, he equalled the Red Devils’ 95-year-old record.

Ighalo became only the second player in the club’s history after Jimmy Hanson to have scored in each of his first four competitive starts for United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are in dire need of three points against Palace to boost their bid for next season’s Champions League. Currently, they are six points behind fourth-placed Leicester City who defeated Sheffield United earlier on Thursday.

For Crystal Palace, Roy Hodgson will be counting on the duo of Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew to beat the visitors.

Senegal international Cheikhou Kouyate would be hoping to get some minutes following his inclusion amongst the substitutes.

The Eagles have nothing but pride to fight for in this encounter, and they would be hoping to end their five-game losing streak in the competition.

Since scoring against Bournemouth – which saw him eclipse Tony Yeboah’s record as the highest-scoring Ghanaian in Premier League history, Ayew has gone on a run of five games without a goal as he aims to reach double-figures for the first time in England.