Jose Mourinho has received an important injury boost ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Crystal Palace next weekend after Roy Hodgson confirmed that striker Christian Benteke would miss the game with ligament damage.
Man United head into the clash with the Eagles with five wins out of six under their belts in the Premier League and would go top with a win ahead of Manchester City’s visit to Chelsea later that day.
Palace, on the other hand, have lost their first six games of the season and are the only team in the top four divisions to not score a goal.
And they received another blow during a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City as Benteke was forced off with ligament damage after 72 minutes.
RH: Benteke's not well. We think it's a form of ligament damage, but not sure how bad. He'll have a scan tomorrow. Won't play vs United. pic.twitter.com/pz1XeX88oG
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 23, 2017
Just imagine being a Palace fan for a second: your manager has been sacked after five games in what can only be described as an internal combustion at board level, your side hasn’t scored once in the Premier League and conceded 13, with the prospect of more misery lingering around the corner in the form of a trip to Old Trafford and a home game against the champions.
And then, on top of all of that, your main striker – your only real goal threat – suffers ligament damage. The footballing gods really do hate Palace this season.